Sergio Perez was signed by Red Bull in 2021 after showing a lot of promise on the sidelines in 2020. Perez was put in the second Red Bull seat and was aware that his job was only to assist Max Verstappen in winning the championship. At the start, Perez was doing a good job at it, unlike the previous driver in his seat, but the scene has changed now, and his performance has degraded a lot since then.
This has prompted Red Bull to begin searching for a new driver for the second seat. Lando Norris is now one of the most promising young drivers on the grid, so it’s no surprise that Red Bull has reached out to him about the position on many occasions—only to be repeatedly turned down.
Johnny Herbert backs Lando Norris to partner Max Verstappen
Johnny Herbert, a 59-year-old ex F1 driver and current Sky Sports announcer, feels that Lando Norris is the ideal prospect for the second Red Bull seat right now. If he joins Red Bull, he will take the place of Checo, who hasn’t lived up to expectations.
Herbert backed the dismissal of Sergio Perez by pointing out that Max Verstappen has been through a number of teammates, ranging from Gasly to Albon to Perez, and they all haven’t been able to compete with the sheer skill and race pace of Max Verstappen.
Johnny was recently heard saying :
“If I was choosing there is only one man, and he is in an orange car at the minute. That is Lando. He has a long-term contract and I don’t know what that says or the details of it.”
He went on to say that an opportunity opens rarely in this sport, and if one gets a chance, they should grab it immediately.
Verstappen success putting Perez under further scrutiny
Verstappen has been utterly and undoubtedly dominating the sport since Last year. The Dutchman is on track to win his third world title. His impeccable performance has been putting a lot of pressure on his current teammate, Sergio Perez.
Up until this year, Sergio’s racing pace was good enough to keep up with Max, but he has failed to qualify for Q3 five times in a row. This scenario has raised some alarm bells at Red Bull. Sergio is now in second place in the driver championship table, but his team doesn’t anticipate him staying there for long, given the huge 99-point disparity between him and his teammate Max Verstappen and taking into consideration his recent finishes.
The Mexican has been under severe scrutiny for the reasons listed above, as many other drivers on the grid would do everything to take his place. In particular, the man who recently took over for Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri, Daniel Riccardo, who supposedly has his sights set on Perez’s position.
