F1 driver brutally labelled 'damaged goods' and accused of letting team-mate down
Sergio Perez has been singled out for criticism despite keeping his Red Bull seat.
Johnny Herbert has issued a brutal putdown of Sergio Perez by labelling him 'damaged goods' after it was revealed that he will be keeping his Red Bull seat. Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Perez would remain as Max Verstappen's team-mate until at least the end of the season.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and chief advisor Helmut Marko held a meeting on Monday to discuss whether or not to give Perez his marching orders. They eventually decided to keep him, with Horner relaying the news to hundreds of Red Bull employees at their Milton Keynes base.
Perez will be hoping to repay Red Bull's faith by improving his results in qualifying and races between now and the end of the season. Herbert, however, is not expecting the Mexican driver to suddenly come flying out of the blocks after failing to impress with his recent displays.
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Reflecting on Perez's seventh-placed finish at the Belgian Grand Prix, Herbert said: "Sergio Perez was the worst performing driver at the weekend again. He went from the front row backwards and that is not what teams are expecting from their drivers.
"It is horrible to say but it is like he is damaged goods at the moment. He is a broken man mentally. There will normally be a performance clause within any contract and that could allow Red Bull to terminate Perez’s contract because his performances have not been good enough for the last couple of years."
Herbert went on to suggest that Red Bull should have replaced Perez with Yuki Tsunoda and not Daniel Ricciardo, who was widely reported to have been the favourite for the role.
"Daniel Ricciardo isn’t good enough," he explained. "Has Daniel earned a place at Red Bull? I don’t think so, at least not yet. He has not been strong enough against Yuki Tsunoda. Yuki is the one I would give a go to. His racing has improved.
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"It would not be the Daniel of old who would be up against Max. The pressure on Max is huge. The Red Bull dominance of old has gone. That is not happening anymore. It’s all on his shoulders.
“You need two drivers to get as many points as you can, if you are not going to win a race as Max has been doing for the past couple of seasons. When you get to that situation a team has to make a change but their choices are few. It looks like it will be either Ricciardo, against whom there is a question mark, or Yuki."
It seems likely that Perez will be ditched by Red Bull at the end of the season if he fails to prove himself as a worthy candidate to partner Verstappen in 2025. Marko has already suggested that a more ruthless approach will be taken if the 34-year-old continues to lag behind his team-mate.
Speaking after Red Bull confirmed that Perez would be keeping his seat, Marko said: "We want to bring him back to his old form. Ricciardo also remains. Nothing will change. For 2025, the cards will be reshuffled again."
