Helmut Marko hints - Sergio Perez no longer his choice at Red Bull
General
Helmut Marko is a master at expressing his dissatisfaction in the media. "Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are the best driver duo in Formula 1," the Austrian said to Le Journal. The duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, at his team Red Bull, is not the best in the sport, in his opinion. That is surely not down to Max Verstappen, whom Marko, as we know, admires extraordinarily. The Red Bull advisor does not think highly of Sergio Perez, and it becomes painfully clear again for the Mexican.
When Marko makes such a statement about Norris and Piastri, he knows that the outside world interprets it as a slight sneer at Sergio Perez. The Mexican also had another poor race at the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend, much to Marko's irritation. On Saturday, after the unsuccessful qualifying session, Marko already announced that Perez was to blame, as Verstappen did manage to perform with the RB20.
Why didn't Red Bull bring in Norris?
Statements such as those made in Le Journal and in the paddock Saturday give the impression, not for the first time, that Marko would have preferred another driver alongside Verstappen. On sporting grounds, that would probably be the likes of Norris or Piastri; drivers he clearly holds in very high regard. Still, it begs the question of why Red Bull did not make an attempt, probably at a hefty ransom, to loosen Norris from McLaren before he ended up extending his commitment there earlier this season?
When Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz was alive, Marko was usually the one who decided the driver line-up of both Red Bull teams. Since Mateschitz passed away, it seems Christian Horner has taken on that task - surely with the approval of the Thai side of Red Bull GmbH. It's no secret that Horner is a supporter of Perez as well as Daniel Ricciardo, who he put at Red Bull's sister team VCARB.
Marko cannot be happy with Perez
It is hard to imagine a man like Marko, who always prided himself on giving as much talent as possible a chance, being happy with two drivers well into their 30s in his teams. If the pair were then performing, it would be a different story. But now, Marko sometimes makes a somewhat prickly remark about Sergio Perez, telling us he is unhappy with the performance of the Mexican once again.