Red Bull's second seat seems cursed: what's the best choice for 2022?

Since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing has fallen into a bit of a hole. Who should be the second driver next to Max Verstappen? Pierre Gasly was given the chance, but failed. Alexander Albon was given the chance, but failed. Sergio Perez was given the chance in 2021, but even the Mexican is not yet fully convincing. Is the second seat of the Austrian team cursed?

For three years now, people have been saying that Red Bull's biggest problem is a lack of a fast second driver. Until 2021, however, Red Bull's car was not fast enough to compete with Mercedes in the world championship. This season it is and that is why Perez was brought in; to finish in front of the Mercedes on Sundays in order to steal points from them.

In 11 GPs so far this year, Perez has been on the podium only twice, despite Verstappen always being there, unless he DNFs. It doesn't help that Perez is completely new to Red Bull Racing, but in races where Verstappen has been so dominant, the 31-year-old driver could certainly have been closer. We are talking about the GPs of Monaco, Styria and Austria.

How is Perez doing relatively speaking?

At the start of the summer break we are 11 Grands Prix into the season, so we have grabbed the standings of the last three seasons after exactly eleven weekends, to compare Perez to Gasly and Albon:

2019:

- Pierre Gasly - P6 - 55 points (one DNF)

- Max Verstappen - P3 - 162 points (zero DNFs)

2020:

- Alexander Albon - P7 - 64 points (two DNFs)

- Max Verstappen - P3 - 147 points (three DNFs)

2021:

- Sergio Perez - P5 - 104 points (one DNFs)

- Max Verstappen - P2 - 187 points (two DNFs)

Perez has managed to score significantly more points, but we must also remember that the RB16B is a far better car than its predecessors in every way. Bearing in mind that Verstappen could have won nine GP's in terms of speed of his car, you could expect more than 104 points from Perez. If the Mexican had finished fifth in every GP, he would have scored 110 points, for example.

This is not the first time this problem has arisen, but it's something the team needs to fix.

Verstappen in a class of his own

What's clear is that Verstappen is in a class of his own, and no one gets as much out of the Red Bull car as the driver from Limburg. What exactly is the reason for that? The car seems to have been designed with Verstappen in mind. For this season that's not surprising as Perez was only signed on 18 December last year, and the main part of the RB16B was already built at that time. The high rake of the current car especially seems to give Perez problems.

Also in 2022, the RB17 will be developed mainly according to Verstappen's wishes. Is it completely unjustified? No, it is not. It can be awkward though. Red Bull's second driver will have to adopt Verstappen's driving style and make the most of it. Helmut Marko wants to make Max Verstappen the world champion. However, in recent seasons it seems that the second driver will cost you points. A driver with Perez's experience might be the best fit, but perhaps the option of Valtteri Bottas is not so bad either.

Bottas and Red Bull

The Finnish driver has been driving for Mercedes since 2017, so he has a huge amount of knowledge of the German racing stable. Bottas will also have been involved (partially or not) in the development of the 2022 car and so it would be a stunt by Red Bull if they manage to contract Bottas. Moreover, the driver currently fourth in the World Championship has a proven track record in the years he was Hamilton's teammate. No, he is not as fast as Hamilton, but the Finn is closer to Hamilton than Perez is to Verstappen. Of course Perez has only been with Red Bull for six months.

In short, Marko and team boss Christian Horner are weighing up the pros and cons. Nobody has been able to approach the level of Daniel Ricciardo. Is it the driver, or is the Red Bull just such a tricky car that only someone with the exceptional talent of Verstappen can handle it, or a driver who has been with the team for at least two years? Red Bull will have to find an answer to that question, because if Perez had been slightly faster on some days, Verstappen would now be leading the World Championship, as Hamilton wouldn't have scored as many points.

Decision to come

Red Bull have indicated that it will become clear in September who will sit alongside Verstappen in 2022. Is six months long enough to make an informed choice? And is Pierre Gasly perhaps not the best choice? The Frenchman excels at AlphaTauri on a weekly basis and already knows how Red Bull Racing works, but riding alongside Verstappen takes pressure. So who is the best choice?