Ex-Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari has insisted that Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko would’ve sacked Sergio Perez, had the Mexican been in the side’s junior team.
Alguersuari raced for Red Bull’s sister team from 2009 until 2011, before he was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo in 2012.
The Spaniard therefore knows how the likes of Red Bull and Marko work, convincing him that Perez would’ve been fired if he were a junior driver.
Alguersuari is insistent that Perez needs to get the most out of his “winning car”, something which he’s currently not doing.
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“We have to be clear that Checo was never in the junior team. If he was, considering how Helmut Marko judges drivers, he would not have lasted a year,” Alguersuari told the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
“You have a winning car and have to use it. I know people will think, ‘what are you saying, your best place was seventh?’ I didn’t have a chance to drive a winning car and I’m just saying your first rival is your team-mate.”
Perez heads into this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix having claimed just one podium in the last five races, whilst he’s also failed to progress to Q3 in the same period.
Since Miami, the 33-year-old has been consistently slower than Max Verstappen, something which Alguersuari believes is “not acceptable”.
“It’s not acceptable that Perez is always half a second or seven tenths slower,” he said.
“If your team-mate is winning all the races, you have to at least be on the podium, not on your best day being on the podium.
“You have to be closer otherwise they have the right to replace you. There are many drivers on the grid that could definitely be much closer to Max.”
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With Daniel Ricciardo having replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri for the rest of the season, the pressure is very much on Perez to deliver some strong results.
Should he continue to struggle, then he could face the axe if Ricciardo excels at the Faenza-based team.
Ricciardo has already caught Red Bull’s attention in the Pirelli tyre test last week, which is partly why he finds himself in the AT04 instead of De Vries at the Hungaroring.