Perez criticised by Marko for 'complete collapse'

Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has delivered a withering appraisal of Sergio Perez's Belgian Grand Prix.

The Mexican driver appeared to have - at least somewhat - re-found his form, qualifying in third at Spa-Francorchamps and being elevated to the front row after Max Verstappen's grid penalty.

That was exactly what Red Bull had wanted to see over the past few rounds, even if he did reach Q3 by the narrowest of margins, setting a lap time a mere 0.003 seconds faster than Alexander Albon, who was eliminated.

However, in a race in which he ought to have been fighting for victory, and securing a podium finish at the least, he fell back - even behind his team-mate, who lined up in P11. Even after George Russell was stripped of victory, Perez only finished in seventh.

It will do little to soothe concerns surrounding his future at Red Bull, with talks planned for today to discuss how tenable the 34-year-old's position in the team is, amongst other things. 

"He was given the opportunity to show a good performance from the second starting place," Marko said on Sky Sports Germany, reviewing Perez's afternoon.

"Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case and especially in the last stint he completely collapsed, even dipping into the 1:48-ers [in lap time] in the process. 

"What still looked so promising in qualifying unfortunately did not materialise in the race."

Red Bull to assess driver options

Perez has been under fire for some time, and following his poor performance in Belgium, has scored just 28 points in the past eight rounds.

Perez has now fallen short of the two performance clauses RacingNews365 understands were added to his recent Red Bull contract extension.

They specified that come the end of the Belgian Grand Prix, the six-time grand prix winner could not be more than 100 points behind Verstappen in the drivers' championship, and no more than five positions back.

That leaves Perez in a precarious position, and he may find himself sidelined at Red Bull - something Marko alluded to in his comments.

"It is of course also the case that we have to go through the overall driver situation for 2025," the Austrian said.

"We have a few drivers and operate a certain concept. But in Sergio's case, it is clear that an eighth-place finish [prior to Russell's disqualification] from a second-starting position is not what we expected."