Red Bull blow apart Perez Liberty Media theory

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has blown apart the theory that the team only opted to retain Sergio Perez on the back of demands from F1 owner Liberty Media.

On the Monday following the recent Belgian Grand Prix, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner announced to all at the factory in Milton Keynes that Perez would continue with the team after the summer break.

The Mexican's woeful form, after scoring a miserly 28 points from the last eight grands prix, had thrown his future into serious doubt despite only signing a new one-plus-one contract extension in early June.

Marko had confirmed in the build-up to the race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit that Perez's future would be discussed over the current summer break, only for the team to make a rapid decision within 24 hours of the grand prix concluding.

Speculation surfaced that Red Bull's seemingly hasty announcement was on the back of pressure from Liberty Media and concern there would be a backlash in Mexico if Perez was absent for his home race.

Marko, however, has categorically dismissed the notion. "Reports that his continued commitment is due to Liberty Media's desire for him to race in Mexico are not true," said Marko, via his column in the Austrian publication Speedweek.

"They certainly want him to race in his home race, but our choice of driver is not based on Liberty Media's intentions."

Marko dismisses alternatives

At the time of the discussions surrounding Perez, the likes of RB duo Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, as well as reserve driver Liam Lawson were all being mooted as potential replacements.

Perez's performance in Belgium, in particular, rang further alarm bells as he started from second on the grid but disappeared down the field, eventually finishing a disappointing seventh.

Marko maintains, however, that despite the apparent crisis of confidence going on with Perez, he was always first choice, although much will now be expected of him over the final 10 grands prix.

"Sergio will continue to drive the Red Bull Racing car after the summer break, as there are now races on tracks where he was good last year and we are counting on stability," added Marko.

"He has also shown good performances from time to time, and at the last race weekend in Spa, he was very fast on Saturday [in qualifying], finishing third.

"He was allowed to start from position two, and according to the calculations, third place would have been possible.

"But we saw that his tyres had deteriorated significantly more. He couldn't push, and on top of that, we only had two sets of medium tyres and one set of the hard compound, while the competition had two sets of hard and one set of medium tyres. That was perhaps a decisive point.

"Pérez doesn't need to get faster, just more consistent. And given the alternatives, he is still our best solution."