Red Bull is clearly contemplating dropping Sergio Perez at the end of the season.
Both before and after the Mexican driver signed a new contract for 2025 and 2026, Perez’s ongoing place as teammate to Max Verstappen has been under a cloud.
That cloud is now turning grey, as Liam Lawson has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at the junior outfit RB and put in a clear head-to-head with Yuki Tsunoda.
"Perez has a contract for 2025," Red Bull’s F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko told Sky Deutschland at the US GP.
"If he delivers with performance, that will not be called into question. But Formula 1 is a competitive sport, which is why Daniel Ricciardo was also replaced."
Perez, 34, upped his game recently - as Verstappen struggled with the less competitive 2024 car. But now that the car has improved again, the gap has once again widened.
"Checo made up one place," Marko said after the Austin sprint race. "That’s not really what we expected.
"The gap to Max was also quite big in terms of laptime," added the 81-year-old Austrian.
As for the returning rookie Lawson, and the RB incumbent Tsunoda, Marko was more enthusiastic.
"Yuki fought really well against the Haas drivers, but in the end he had no chance, because they were much faster on the straights," he said, amid reports Honda is pushing hard for Tsunoda to be promoted to Red Bull Racing for 2025.
As for 22-year-old New Zealander Lawson, "He was very good from the practice session," Marko surmised. "He was on par with Tsunoda or even faster.
"He had a problem with track limits, but his performance was flawless, especially when you consider that it is his first time on this circuit. It’s also the first time in a long time that he is back in the car.
"You could say it has been a success so far," Marko told Servus TV.
Lawson even managed to ruffle the feathers of F1 veteran Fernando Alonso, who called the youngster an "idiot" after a wheel-to-wheel battle.
"A bit too much action, for sure," Alonso told reporters afterwards. "He has six races to prove a lot, but it’s certainly not the best approach that he’s taking. But hey, it’s his career that’s at stake, not mine."
Marko said Lawson’s competitive and feisty return to the F1 grid "shows again that you have to give young people a chance".
"If he continues like this, he will be Verstappen’s teammate."