Sergio Perez arrives at his home Mexico City Grand Prix with his Red Bull future uncertain following a poor run of form; watch every session from the Mexico City GP this weekend live on Sky Sports F1, beginning on Friday
Wednesday 25 October 2023 15:27, UK
Sergio Perez's home race in Mexico is always a special event for the Red Bull driver, but there is likely to be a different feel to the occasion this time around as his future with the team hangs in the balance.
Perez has endured a hugely disappointing 2023 campaign, failing to provide effective backup for his dominant team-mate Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman has been so brilliant that he sealed a third successive drivers' title with six races still to go, with that form also ensuring Red Bull wrapped up the constructors' title a round earlier.
Perez started the season impressively, sharing two victories apiece with Verstappen over the first four races and sparking talk - that he perhaps misguidedly got caught up in - of a title battle between the pair, before failing to convert pole position in the next race in Miami as his team-mate came from ninth on the grid to comfortably win.
In the 13 races since, Perez has managed just four podiums, has qualified in the top four on only one occasion, and has been knocked out before Q3 seven times.
Being beaten by Verstappen is no disgrace, but in a car that is very clearly the fastest on the grid, Perez has repeatedly been outperformed by Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren drivers, and often several of them at the same time.
As his torrid second half of the campaign has continued, speculation has mounted that Red Bull might feel the need to cut ties with Perez at the end of the season, despite another year remaining on the 33-year-old's contract. There was even a rumour that Perez was planning to announce his retirement in Mexico, which he laughed off.
Whether or not he was alluding to the ever-growing pressure he is facing when describing the Mexico City Grand Prix as "my most important weekend", it might just turn out to be exactly that, with how he performs under the spotlight potentially having a big sway on how he is viewed by the Red Bull hierarchy.
Perez has repeatedly explained that his struggles have been caused by the in-season development of the RB19 going in a direction which doesn't suit his driving style, but one that enables Verstappen to produce magical speed.
There is undoubtedly some truth to this, with Verstappen's former team-mate Alex Albon, who is now driving very impressively at Williams, having explained suffering similarly in his brief time with Red Bull.
However, for a driver of Perez's experience to be so far off his team-mate is quite simply unacceptable.
There had been talk of a 'reset' for Perez at the United States Grand Prix after particularly poor races in Japan and Qatar, with several days spent on the simulator at Red Bull's base, but it was ultimately another underwhelming weekend.
He only qualified ninth for the race, and despite finishing fourth after being promoted a place thanks to Lewis Hamilton's disqualification, was a long way off the pace of the leading trio, while in the Sprint he qualified seventh and finished fifth.
Perez, in a post-race interview with Sky Sports F1 that sounded like many others he has done this season, explained how it had gone wrong for him on this occasion.
"I wanted more," he said. "At times I had very good pace. We're still lacking that consistency.
"I think we know what we did wrong at the weekend, so we are really optimistic going onto the future races, so hopefully we can improve that.
"I think we did very good steps. Unfortunately we didn't get to show it because we took the wrong direction on the setup given that it was a Sprint race.
"But I'm still very optimistic for Mexico. We know what direction we need to take, so hopefully we get to show that."
While remaining publicly supportive of Perez, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has repeatedly rejected the suggestion that the RB19 has been developed in a favourable direction for Verstappen.
Speaking in Austin, Horner suggested that Perez's mentality may have been just as significant as any technical elements in the Mexican's struggles.
"I think it's a huge element and with any sportsman that, mental strength always plays a key role," Horner said.
"And I think there was a decisive moment this year, which was probably in Miami, where Checo had, if you like, an open goal. He'd won two races in Azerbaijan and Saudi, and you could see his confidence was high.
"I think that Max, winning that race, having been caught out by a red flag in qualy - starting down in ninth, and whatever lap it was that he took the lead, within a very short period of time - I think mentally that was that was quite a brutal one for Checo to deal with.
"And on top of that, then came Monaco, I think pretty much the next race. And then things compound. And Max is just relentless, he's then just hitting aces every race from there onwards."
One thing on Perez's side is that Hamilton's disqualification in Austin means he is in an extremely strong position to seal Red Bull's first ever one-two in the drivers' standings.
Perez's advantage over the seven-time world champion was going to be cut to 19 points, but instead sits at 39 with four races (and one Sprint) remaining.
Speaking before Hamilton's disqualification had been announced, Horner insisted that there was "no pre-mandate" on Perez having to finish second to keep his seat for 2024.
"With this car, it would be fantastic in such a season that we've had if we could finish first and second," Horner said. "But there's no pre mandate on Checo that you have to finish second or you won't be driving the car next year. That's never been discussed."
Since last year's race in Mexico, there have been a couple of incidents that could result in a few other key members of the Red Bull team facing a particularly hostile reception.
It is likely that Perez's fiercely loyal fans have not forgotten Verstappen's refusal to help his team-mate's quest for second in last year's drivers' standings in the closing stages of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which also follows the Mexico race this year.
Verstappen was booed on the podium in Austin, where a significant contingent of Perez fans were present, and can expect more of the same next weekend.
While there is an element of pantomime to the hostility Verstappen is likely to face, the same cannot be said for Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko.
He was officially warned by the FIA after making comments about Perez where he attributed the driver's inconsistent form this season to his ethnicity.
Asked about the reception he expects his team to receive, Horner said: "I'm not worried about that.
"The team is fully behind Checo and both of our drivers. We love racing in Mexico, we love the Mexican fans. The passion, that stadium and everything, it's unique. We're really looking forward to it."
Thursday 26 October
9pm: Drivers' Press Conference
Friday 27 October
7pm: Mexico City GP Practice One
8:45pm: The F1 Show
10:45pm: Mexico City GP Practice Two (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
Saturday 28 October
6.15pm: Mexico City GP Practice Three
9pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
Sunday 29 October
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP
F1 heads straight to Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the whole Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday, with Sunday's race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW
