When a Red Bull Racing driver struggles for form, a process unfolds whereby the enigmatic Helmut Marko issues a media fatwa aimed at the driver in question. However, Mad Dog Marko has been unusually quiet amidst Sergio Perez’s ongoing struggles to perform his duties for Red Bull Racing. Perez, who has been consistently out-qualified by teammate Verstappen by a significant margin at every race, is clearly facing challenges.

Undoubtedly, the Red Bull RB20 is engineered to suit Verstappen’s specific driving preferences. Nevertheless, Perez must demonstrate adaptability to remain competitive. In the first half of the season so far, Perez performed as expected, achieving top-five qualifying positions and securing four podium finishes out of six contested races.

Perez’s early form was so promising that Red Bull signed him to a multi-year contract as a gesture of approval. However, in the subsequent six races starting from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May, Perez’s performance has been poor. He has qualified outside the top 10 on five out of six occasions and finished in the points only once.

At the British Grand Prix, Perez spun out during his out lap in Q1, relegating him to last on the grid for the race. His race performance was equally disappointing, finishing 17th despite driving one of the fastest cars on the grid.

Suddenly, Perez finds himself under the spotlight, with Team Boss Christian Coco Pops Horner calling his form unsustainable as the battle for the constructors’ title tightens. Rumours suggest Red Bull may consider a driver swap with sister team RB, potentially replacing Perez with Daniel Ricciardo, and vice versa.

Former 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button has been more direct in his assessment, stating in a recent media interview that Perez’s form is a “massive, massive issue” for Red Bull.

“This [Silverstone] was a terrible weekend. It was unlucky in some ways as well. This isn’t going to happen every race weekend, but for McLaren to be taking this many points out of them, it’s big.“

“He needs to be scoring some points at least. Even if he’s not directly behind Max. They can’t let it go on forever. I think in the next race, if he’s not scoring points again – soon enough they’ve got to get him out of the car and put someone else in.“

“It’s tough, I know it’s not a nice feeling for a driver, it’s horrible, but for them the championship is important.”