Helmut Marko takes out Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda after mistakes in Mexico

That of Red Bull Sergio Perez and sister team VCARBs Yuki Tsunoda have come under fire from senior advisor Helmut Marko after qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix. While Perez had exited the session in Q1 after securing P18 for the race start, Tsunoda’s “unnecessary crash” came to Marko’s attention, prompting him to suggest the incident was the result of pressure from his new teammate Liam Lawson.

Perez has had a difficult season so far, with his performances in stark contrast to his last podium finish at the Chinese Grand Prix in April. Since that race, the Mexican driver has experienced a remarkable decline in form. It was later revealed that a balance problem with his RB20 was affecting his performance, a situation which only came to light after his teammate Max Verstappen began experiencing similar problems with his own car.

Despite Red Bull’s two-year contract extension in May, Perez was in danger of being dismissed from Red Bull. Recently, Marko revealed that the team was assessing the performances of Lawson and Tsunoda for the remainder of the 2024 season to decide who would be fit to secure the seat next to Verstappen next season.

Perez missed another chance to redeem himself at his home race in Mexico as braking problems with his RB20 prevented him from pushing to the limit. Although he indicated that data could support his claim that the qualifying result was not his fault, Marko insisted that the expected improvement in Perez’s performance had not ” materialized “. He told it Sky Deutschland:

“Unfortunately, the hoped-for revival that we all expected did not materialize.

“He complained on the radio about his braking problems. At least that’s what I heard. We have to look at what exactly was going on, but unfortunately the recovery we all expected did not happen.”

Responding to comments made by Perez’s father, Antonio Perez, in a recent interview in which he expressed confidence that it is only a matter of time before his son claims the title of Mexico’s first Formula 1 champion, Marko declared:

‘All respect for a father’s optimism, but…’

The second driver to receive criticism from Marko was Tsunoda, who the 81-year-old advisor believes is under increasing pressure following Lawson’s arrival at the team after the United States Grand Prix, where he replaced Daniel Ricciardo. Marko said of Tsunoda’s qualifying crash:

“It was an unnecessary crash, I would say.

“He had that spin in Austin and now this crash in qualifying.

“We thought it had all stabilized but now, under the pressure from Lawson, it is noticeable.”