Formula 1: Surprise Red Bull announcement triggers curious change

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.

McLaren have not won the constructor championship since 1998.

McLaren did outscore Red Bull again in Belgium, but most importantly, Verstappen overcame an 11th place starting position and finished in fourth, one spot ahead of Norris, who had started in fourth. Verstappen was by far the fastest qualifier, but he was issued a 10-spot grid penalty due to an engine change.

Yet now McLaren are even heavier favorites to win the constructor championship at -185. Red Bull's odds have gotten even longer and are now +120.

Why? Probably because of the fact that Red Bull officials met after the Belgian Grand Prix and decided to retain Perez, instead of replacing him during the summer break.

It was widely believed that they were going to replace him with either RB's Daniel Ricciardo or reserve driver Liam Lawson.

It has become clear that the public no longer strongly believes in Red Bull's ability to hold onto their lead in the constructor standings with Perez competing alongside Verstappen, though once again, it is worth mentioning that Red Bull have "committed" to retaining other drivers before moving on from them during the season as well.

It's certainly hard to imagine that Perez's deal, which now runs through 2026, is watertight. The question is just how tight it is as it pertains to 2024, because if it's not, perhaps Red Bull will be forced to rethink their recent decision again before the season comes to an end.

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The Formula 1 summer break is scheduled to come to an end with the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, August 25. The 15th of a record-breaking 24 races on the 2024 schedule is set to broadcast live on ESPN from Circuit Zandvoort beginning at 8:55 a.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!