Formula 1: The surprise driver who almost replaced Sergio Perez

Another Formula 1 season, another year of speculation about Sergio Perez's future at Red Bull. Last year, after he faded following a strong start, there were reports that he would be announcing his retirement in October during his home race weekend in Mexico.

That did not happen, and Perez returned for the 2024 season. He recently signed a two-year contract extension to remain with Red Bull through 2026, but a rough stretch of races led to additional speculation that he could be replaced at the summer break.

Red Bull have since confirmed that Perez will not be replaced during the break, but there is still plenty of speculation suggesting that, barring a significant improvement in form, he could be replaced after the 2024 season, despite having agreed to a new deal.

In fact, some still believe that an in-season move remains in play, with questions surrounding the team's commitment to the 34-year-old Mexican.

What about the time when Perez was actually almost replaced?

Amid a rookie season of struggle last year, Nyck de Vries was dropped by AlphaTauri, with Red Bull third driver Daniel Ricciardo called upon to replace him at the team now known as RB.

De Vries impressed in his Formula 1 debut at Monza with Williams in 2022 as Alex Albon dealt with appendicitis, but through 10 races in 2023, his best finish was 12th place. He sat in 20th and last in the driver standings, having finished higher than teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who recorded five finishes of 11th or higher during that stretch, on only two occasions.

There was almost immediately speculation that he could be replaced mid-season, not just because of his struggles, but because of the history that AlphaTauri and Red Bull have had with making in-season changes.

The mid-season move added to the stigma surrounding Red Bull's cutthroat approach when it comes to their standards surrounding in-season driver changes, and the fact that that move was made less than halfway into the 2023 season played a role in ramping up speculation about Perez's future.

While the 29-year-old Dutchman may not have been given a fair chance, given the fact that AlphaTauri were quite visibly the slowest team on the grid during the first half of 2023, the fact that the Faenza-based team actually made the move to release him early was not all that surprising.

What was somewhat surprising, however, was the Formula 1 opportunity that de Vries almost got shortly before his release.

Perez's status was up in the air for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in July 2023, as he was dealing with an illness leading into the weekend. It was not a sure thing that he would compete in the 24-lap sprint or the 71-lap main event around the 10-turn, 2.683-mile (4.318-kilometer) road course.

Naturally, fans wanted Ricciardo to make a sensational Red Bull return in the event that Perez was unable to compete. Ricciardo competed for the team from 2014 to 2018 before opting to leave for Renault.

But according to RACER.com's Chris Medland, it was de Vries who was in line to replace Perez in the Austrian Grand Prix in the event that the illness kept him sidelined. Tsunoda hadn't had a seat fitting with Red Bull at that point, and Ricciardo reportedly wasn't an option yet.

Considering de Vries' struggles and the ongoing rumors about his future at the time, this was somewhat of a surprising development, but at the same time, it did make sense for a number of reasons.

First of all, it would have given de Vries an unexpected opportunity in top-tier equipment. While not in top-tier equipment, we all saw what he did at Monza in 2022, capitalizing on another unexpected opportunity by tying Williams' season-best result and scoring 25% of their entire 2022 season point total in a single race.

Had he performed at a high level in the RB19, it would have demonstrated that his early 2023 struggles came more down to AlphaTauri's lack of pace than anything else.

It could have opened up the door for entire organization to continue believing in him, especially since Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was reportedly the one who was against the idea of AlphaTauri signing him in the first place.

And secondly, let's not forget how dominant Max Verstappen and Red Bull were last year. Verstappen would have won the constructor championship with his own personal point total, which was more than twice as high as that of Perez in second place by the time the end of the season rolled around.

So it's not like there would have been a ton of pressure on Red Bull to get Perez's replacement absolutely right for a single race weekend. Even a worst-case scenario resulting in zero points from the second driver would not have made a dent.

But none of that matters now. The opportunity did not come to fruition for de Vries, as fortunately Perez was able to recover swiftly. De Vries competed in just one more race before finding himself completely out of Formula 1, and more than a year later, Perez is still with Red Bull, even with rumors upon rumors that he could be shown the exit sooner rather than later.