Column | Red Bull Racing make the right choice with Perez

All we have to do is wait for confirmation from Red Bull, but it's very likely Sergio Perez will drive for Red Bull Racing in 2021, giving the Mexican a second chance at a top team. Red Bull Racing opt for Perez after Alexander Albon's difficult season, and you have to say it's the right option if they want a second driver to challenge Mercedes.

Perez to Red Bull Racing

Red Bull Racing have had problems when it comes to drivers since Daniel Ricciardo left. Between 2009 and 2013, Red Bull were very stable with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel and between 2016 and 2018 Red Bull also did well with Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. However, the years in between and after the last duo didn't achieve the best results. 

Daniil Kvyat wasn't ready for the promotion to Red Bull in 2015 and Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly are also not good enough to fill the position of the second driver. The Red Bull training set-up has already produced many talents, but apparently not every talent can make the step to Red Bull Racing.

In three cases, positive results came from Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen. However, after problems with Albon and Gasly, Red Bull cannot afford another miss before 2021. If you really want to compete for the world title, your star driver Verstappen also needs a good teammate.

Not hurting the other Red Bull juniors

For a long time, it looked likely that Alexander Albon would stay at Red Bull while Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez sit on the side. Red Bull chooses Perez in the end. As a talent of the Red Bull training and with his Thai nationality, Albon has long been held above the rest, but that is now over.

With that, Red Bull does what they have to do. Albon really could not stay on and Gasly could not handle the pressure next to Verstappen. Hulkenberg and Perez are the only suitable options and with the races that Perez has driven this year, you really cannot ignore him. Red Bull again opts for someone from outside.

And that is not bad at all. Where some will call this trouble for the Red Bull training set-up, I believe that this is the perfect choice for the moment. You do not have any talent at hand that, like Vettel, Ricciardo or Verstappen, can make the step to Red Bull. And therefore you cannot be taken seriously as a top team.

Red Bull chooses a top driver

With Perez, Red Bull have brought in a driver with a large CV and perhaps a better driver duo than Mercedes. That's what Red Bull needs. Not only the car must be better, but also the drivers. Albon and Gasly certainly weren't and Perez might be. In any case, you would say that he is of the level of Valtteri Bottas.

However, that does not mean that this will all be a success. Perez has also shown in the past that he can get irritated if it does not fall in his direction and the expectation is that Verstappen will be the faster of the two. How does Perez deal with this and what can Red Bull do with this situation?

The pressure is high for Perez

It could also be that Perez is unable to get close to Verstappen and that we have seen it all wrong. Maybe Verstappen is just that good and Albon and Gasly weren't that bad at all. It doesn't seem plausible, but the fact that Perez's choice is currently the only right choice for Red Bull does not mean it will work out well.

Then finally there is the future. With Albon as reserve driver, the pressure is fully on Perez. A change is not strange to Red Bull and with Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda two drivers at AlphaTauri will work hard to make the step. If Perez can fulfil a "Webber role," Red Bull will not be so quick to say goodbye to him, but like Bottas, Perez will also be evaluated annually and Helmut Marko can continue to make those comparisons easy with two teams.

This article was written and originally published by Tim Kraaij on the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.