Is Liam Lawson poised to replace Sergio Pérez after a strong comeback during the Grand Prix weekend in Austin? Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is certainly pleased with the New Zealander’s ‘flawless’ weekend. Meanwhile, Pérez is warned that he could suffer the same fate as Daniel Ricciardo.
Sergio Pérez failed to impress once again at the Circuit of the Americas. The Mexican qualified only tenth on Saturday, and made up three places during Sunday’s race. The sprint race didn’t go much better. Liam Lawson, Daniel Ricciardo’s replacement, did impress during his comeback, immediately scoring more points than Ricciardo and teammate Yuki Tsunoda have since the summer break. The future of the Red Bull driver with the team is therefore being questioned again.
“Pérez has a contract for 2025,” advisor Helmut Marko tells Sky Deutschland. “If he performs, that will not be questioned. But Formula 1 is a competitive sport and that’s why Daniel Ricciardo was also replaced.”
During the Grand Prix weekend in Austin, where a sprint race also took place, Pérez was disappointing. “Checo made up one place,” said Marko after the sprint race in Austin. “That’s not really what we expected. The gap to Max was also quite large in terms of lap time.”
Lawson as Good as Tsunoda
Red Bull drivers Tsunoda and Lawson stood out in a good way compared to Pérez. “Yuki really fought against the Haas drivers, but in the end he didn’t stand a chance because they were much faster on the straights,” says Marko. “(Lawson) was as good as Tsunoda or even faster. He had a problem with the track limits, but his performance was flawless, especially considering it’s his first time on this circuit. It’s also the first time in a long time that (Lawson) is back in the car.”
