The team confirms the Mexican for economic reasons. Divorce at the end of the year?
Zero victories against the seven obtained by Verstappen. Less than half the points obtained by his teammate (277 against 131) and seventh place in the drivers’ standings. These are the statistics of a truly disastrous first half of the world championship for Sergio Perez, enough to seriously question his presence at the wheel of the RB20 when the championship resumes. Or at least so it seemed, given that the team’s top management, meeting last Monday, opted to reconfirm the Mexican. The reasons behind a decision that casts serious doubt on the conquest of the constructors’ title for the Anglo-Austrian team are various, but almost all of a purely economic nature.
slim the mentor
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Since the beginning of his career, Perez has been able to boast the support of his compatriot Carlos Slim. Slim owns a large part of the telecommunications companies based in South America and, in addition to being the richest man in Mexico, has always supported the country’s top athletes. The tycoon’s support, in addition to being financial, also operates on a political level and Red Bull has preferred not to lose the important commercial agreements that bind the team with rich sponsors such as Disney, Telcel, Mobil, Claro, Nescafé and KitKat. Not to be underestimated, then, is the hold that “Checo” has on the Mexican people. According to estimates, over 60% of Red Bull merchandise is sold in Mexico, as also confirmed by Helmut Marko to Kleine Zeitung: “His products sell much more than Verstappen’s. He is truly a popular driver.”
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Mexican GP
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Perez’s replacement would also have caused a more than probable collapse in ticket sales for the Mexican GP. The fate of the South American stage of the circus, so far very popular among the Mexican’s fans and capable of selling out every edition, is particularly close to Liberty Media’s heart, which, according to what was reported by F1 Insider, would have pushed for the reconfirmation of “Checo”. The feeling, ultimately, is that Red Bull preferred to avoid (or at least postpone) the significant losses in terms of financial support that a possible farewell by Perez would entail. A decision, probably, only postponed until the end of the championship. A hypothesis that is confirmed by the words of Helmut Marko who, in an interview with F1 Insider, explained how “in 2025 the cards will be reshuffled again”. In the meantime, there are two titles to defend and who knows whether the team’s conservative choice will not turn out to be a resounding boomerang.
2024-08-06 03:59:01
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