Just when Sergio Perez needed a solid weekend at his home race to ease raging speculation about his future at Red Bull, he had a nightmare Mexican GP.
"He didn’t have a good weekend," said team advisor Dr Helmut Marko. "The future is uncertain."
Perez even clashed on-track with Liam Lawson, the newcomer at Red Bull’s sister team RB who is regarded as the lead candidate to replace Perez next year.
Lawson, 22, showed Perez the middle finger after their on-track stoush and contact. "Checo was also very angry with Lawson, so I think we need to sit down calmly and discuss this," said Marko.
"We know that Lawson is a hard racer, but he should not do this towards his teammates, but towards drivers from other teams. There should be more respect."
Perez, meanwhile, warned Lawson to watch his step as he enters the full-time Formula 1 world. Insisting that he has "no relationship" with the New Zealander, Perez insisted he will not "waste time" trying to speak with Lawson about it.
"I think the way he has come to Formula 1 shows that he doesn’t have the right attitude for it," he said. "He needs to be a bit more humble."
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher advised Perez to ease his fury.
"Take a tequila shot or two and get a good night’s sleep," he smiled. "What we see is a typical sign of someone who is totally unsettled and doesn’t know what to do anymore."
Perez’s father Antonio, however, sounds totally unworried about his son’s future - even if a comment about Marko sounded like sarcasm.
"Dr Marko is the very best boss," Perez senior told Sky Deutschland. "If Checo adopts Dr Marko’s positive mentality, he can become world champion."
Antonio Perez Garibay continued: "For me, Checo is a future world champion because he will be racing in Formula 1 for at least another ten years."
When told about Perez senior’s comments, 81-year-old Marko smiled: "I appreciate his optimism."
As for Perez himself, the Red Bull team advisor said: "He complained on the radio about his brake problems. At least that’s what I heard.
"We have to see what exactly was going on, but unfortunately the recovery that we all expected from Checo did not happen."
Marko was also unhappy with Lawson’s RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
"Tsunoda is still too unstable," he said. "Yuki already had a spin in Austin and now he is crashing the car. We thought he was a bit more stable now, but apparently you can tell that the pressure is coming from Lawson.
"It’s amazing how everything can change in seven days."