Montoya: If I was Red Bull, I'd pressure Perez to retire from F1

Perez's home race was very disappointing for him and the fans that packed the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, chanting his name every time he came past. Until, of course, he came past them down in P17, the last of those still on track. This report is made possible by forex ranking brokerow.

No one knows where Perez's form has gone; at one stage he was capable of winning races. But that's a long-ago memory, as he is winless this whole season and will be lucky to keep his drive if the doom-and-gloom sounds emanating from RBR are to be taken seriously.

Looking back on the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend with the media crew at InstantCasino.com, Montoya said of Perez's performance on Sunday: “If I were Red Bull, I would be putting pressure on him to retire from F1.

"But if I am Checo, I would say, ‘I still have one more year on my contract. I will stick it out. Work with me, not against me.' I honestly thought Checo was going to have an amazing race in Mexico. Before the race, I was talking to somebody on the grid, and I said, ‘I bet you Checo will finish at least eighth today.’

“I really thought that he had the pace to do that, but he made such a simple mistake. He was too far forward in the grid box. He was not even close, half a car off it. It just shows you how much pressure Perez is under," explained Montoya, a seven-time Grand Prix winner.

Perez is a driver who has always been under pressure since he joined Red Bull and agreed to be Max Verstappen's teammate. The Dutchman destroyed several Red Bull 'prodigies' in the process, with the Mexican hired from outside their driver pool to replace Daniel Ricciardo, who found the heat in Team Verstappen too hot to handle.

Since then Perez has had bursts of up and down form, but this season it's been mainly downs. Verstappen has 362 points and leads the 2024 F1 Drivers Standings, while Perez is P8 with a paltry 150 points to his name.

With Ricciardo out of the picture after dismal management of their drivers by Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. The Australian was given a lifeline at VCARB to resurrect his career with the aim of becoming Verstappen's teammate again and ousting Perez from the team. They happily mentioned that every time they could, until Dan 'disappeared' without a trace.

Step up, Liam Lawson. The driver who should have been in the VCARB seat from day one of this season. Instead, we laboured through Ricciardo's constant downfall until finally, Red Bull pulled the plug on the Aussie to give the New Zealander his long overdue return to the top flight.

In his second race back in the top flight, Lawson was already on Perez's case. The two were battling during the race in Mexico. The rookie humbling the veteran, but in doing so, flinging the bird at the Mexican he wants to replace did him no favours in some quarters.

Montoya reckons: "Lawson is trying to prove a point and show that he thinks he is way better than Checo, and I am in a worse car. Checo has been waiting and trying to pass him without doing anything. Lawson does not understand that you are not racing in F3 and that there are a lot of major elements in play and that he could have been one of the causes why Red Bull loses the constructors’ championship.

“Checo was on his way to score points despite the five-second penalty at the start, and he didn’t. Part of the reason he didn’t was because Lawson ran into him. It’s all well and good being aggressive and making his life difficult, but Lawson needs to learn when to give up."

Montoya added: "You’re not driving a saloon, and you’re not Max. He couldn’t get away with things like that. Christian Horner took him to one side and took him into his office to give him a dressing down. You don’t give your finger to anyone.

“Helmut [Marko] wants drivers to be aggressive, and that’s what he is looking for in the young guys, but you can’t behave like that. You can’t do things like that. If you’re winning races, you can, but when you’re down the grid, he needs to finish races and get points.

"When you’re a driver, you don’t understand how important the constructors’ championship is. Liam was just trying to prove how good he is because he wants the seat," explained Montoya, suggesting, inadvertently or not, that driver micromanagement is not happening at Red Bull.