Advice to Red Bull: 'Replace pressurised Perez with Norris'

An important weekend awaits Sergio Perez. After two frustrating Grands Prix in a row, the Mexican faces an important race in Canada to retain any prospect of the world title. Given the difference in quality shown between Red Bull Racing's two drivers over the last few races, that will be one hell of a task.

The Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull is widely regarded as the best car on the F1 grid. Yet Perez has recently failed to finish on the podium with it, unlike Verstappen. "If you want more competitiveness to Verstappen, you either need Russell, or Hamilton or Charles Leclerc or maybe Lando Norris," believes former F1 driver Johnny Herbert as quoted by OLBG.

'Good move for Red Bull'

The latter would be an ideal candidate at the Austrians, according to Herbert. The current pundit realises there is an obstacle: "Lando Norris has a long-term contract with McLaren and I don’t know if he has a performance clause in it to move from McLaren. I think it would be a good move for Red Bull. It would add positivity to the team and I think he is more than capable of being able to deal with that position [at Red Bull]," Herbert said.

According to some Mexican media, Verstappen is favoured over Perez, although Red Bull always firmly denies this. According to Herbert, it is perfectly normal for a driver to be favoured within a team. "There is always going to be favouritism in a team because you know one of them will deliver and deliver consistently. As much as Sergio showed in the early part of the season that he was more than capable of mixing it with Max, there was then a point that he wasn’t. Like Schumacher, Senna, Mansell, Hakkinen, they are always able to get the best out of their equipment every weekend."

Herbert speaks from his own experience

The former driver has personally experienced how difficult it is to compete with a superstar within a team. For example, Herbert drove with Michael Schumacher for Benetton. At the time, his position too was never certain. It is no different for Perez, it seems. "In real terms, I would say he is under threat, but he is a very good number two. When he is on his game he can win. Even then he would be second or third and that will still enable Red Bull to win the Constructors’ Championship which is obviously very important."