Sergio Perez is fighting for his Formula 1 future again barely a month after signing a new Red Bull contract.

The Mexican’s form has worsened significantly since putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract extension in early June. Since scoring 18 points at the Miami Grand Prix in May, Perez has added just 15 more across the SIX race weekends that have followed.

And he limped to a miserable 17th in Sunday’s British Grand Prix, having beached his Red Bull during qualifying. Team boss Christian Horner has defended his driver as much as he can but changed his tune at Silverstone and described the 34-year-old’s form as “unsustainable”.

Perez is at real risk of losing his seat – but not, Mirror Sport understands, to Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie is also under pressure having scored at just three events out of the 12 held so far this year. His form hasn’t been good enough to warrant a promotion to the top Red Bull team, and may not even be enough to secure his own F1 future.

The threat to both comes from Liam Lawson, Red Bull’s reserve driver who impressed during a five-race stint filling in for the injured Ricciardo last year. The Kiwi is driving at Silverstone this week on what is officially a filming day. But there are clear parallels to the test Ricciardo completed last summer before it was confirmed that he would replace the struggling Nyck de Vries at sister team RB.

Red Bull do not want to lose Lawson, who will be able to speak with other options on the grid if he is not guaranteed a 2025 seat with his current employer. Should he impress in his test, he could even be promoted in place of either Perez or Ricciardo in the middle of this season.

No change is likely before the summer break, though, essentially giving both strugglers two more weekends to fight for their careers. The timing of his wretched weekend at Silverstone means Perez is the one whose situation has been under the microscope in recent days.

Red Bull are desperate not to lose Liam Lawson ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

There have been plenty of reports containing details of supposed break clauses within the deal he recently signed. But it is understood that many of them, such as the one claiming Perez must remain within five places of Max Verstappen in the championship, do not exist.

Should Red Bull decide to part ways with the Mexican, they would likely have to pay a severance package. But it may prove to be cheaper than if the team were to lose to McLaren in the constructors’ championship, and the loss of prize money that would mean.

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said at Silverstone that Perez’s poor form has opened the door for a title challenge this year. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have both been scoring well and, now that the performance gap has closed, Verstappen’s results are no longer enough to single-handedly win the title for Red Bull.