Ex-Formula 1 driver Jan Lammers has suggested that Sergio Perez is “really ready for retirement” following an absolutely shocking Japanese Grand Prix last weekend.
Perez endured one of his worst races of the 2023 season, which saw him staggeringly retire from the race twice.
His race got off to the worst possible start after colliding with Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton on the run into Turn 1, breaking his front wing in the process.
He was forced to pit at the end of the lap for repairs but was slapped with a five-second time penalty for overtaking Lance Stroll under Safety Car conditions.
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A few laps later and the race went from bad to worse for Checo, after he smashed into the side of Kevin Magnussen.
Perez broke yet another front wing and was given another five-second time penalty.
Red Bull ultimately retired him from the race before allowing him to rejoin in the closing stages, so that he could serve his penalties and avoid them being carried over into Qatar next month.
Once the penalties had been served, he pitted to retire once again.
It meant he wasn’t able to do a parade lap with Max Verstappen, to celebrate Red Bull winning the championship.
There were next to no positive words to be said about the 33-year-old’s performance, with Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko labelling it as a “very dark day”.
“It was a very dark day”, Marko admitted, as reported by Grandpx.news.
Magnussen went a step further than Marko and took a huge shot at Perez, for being towards the back whilst Verstappen was “cruising” at the front.
“His teammate is cruising towards another title and he is fighting down the back with us,” slammed Magnussen.
Lammers was another to criticise Checo and admitted that what he’s doing to the “beautiful” RB19 is “criminal”.
“When you see that Perez is doing with that beautiful car, it’s almost criminal,” Dutch Grand Prix boss and ex-F1 driver Lammers told NOS.
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If that wasn’t enough, Lammers went as far as stating that Perez looks like a driver ready for post-F1 life, something which could work in Liam Lawson’s favour.
“I think Perez is really ready for retirement,” added Lammers. “I mean, how much fun is this for him?
“What we’re seeing is a total lack of drive, motivation, sharpness – everything, really. I think Red Bull could be preparing to put Lawson in that seat.”