There were rumors that Red Bull would be moving on from Sergio Perez during the Formula 1 summer break, despite having just announced a new two-year contract extension for the 34-year-old Mexican driver.
Let’s not forget that they also committed to sticking with Pierre Gasly during the 2019 season, and they proceeded to replace him with Alex Albon.
Perez has not finished higher than seventh place in any of the eight most recent races, during which time McLaren have quite clearly had a quicker car than Red Bull.
But teammate Max Verstappen, the three-time reigning world champion, is once again the world championship leader, and during that eight-race stretch, he has still managed to collect three wins and has not finished lower than sixth.
Perez, on the other hand, has plummeted from second to seventh place in the standings, and he actually had been in eighth, lowest among the Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari drivers, before Mercedes’ George Russell was disqualified after winning Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
During the eight most recent races, Perez has scored just 28 points; Verstappen has scored 141. Aside from Perez, the next lowest point scorers during that stretch, among Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari drivers, are Russell and Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. All three have scored exactly 79.
As a result of Perez’s struggles, McLaren have managed to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructor standings down to 42 points. They have outscored the Milton Keynes-based team in seven of the eight most recent races, lopping off 73 points during that stretch.
Prior to the Belgian Grand Prix, McLaren were listed as the favorites to win this year’s title at FanDuel Sportsbook for the first time this year. They were listed at -130 (bet $130 to win $100), ahead of the two-time reigning world champions at -110.
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