Sergio Perez's Struggles Continue for Red Bull, Keeping F1 Constructors' Championship Interesting

Sergio Perez’s dismal run of form continued in the second Red Bull Racing car, with his last four results in Formula 1 Grands Prix reading P8, DNF, DNF, and now P8 again with another dismal showing in Spain.

Perez was never a contender throughout the weekend at Barcelona and was able to drag his RB20 only to eighth place on the starting grid, which became 11th once a three-place penalty sustained at the previous round in Canada was applied.

In a F1 Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday that had little in the way of incident or intrigue—all 20 starters reached the checkered flag without much drama—the grid position effectively condemned Perez to a Sunday struggle. Perez was able to work his way past only the slow-starting Fernando Alonso and Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly to score eighth place.

That’s a return of just eight points across the last four events, which is denting Red Bull’s prospects for a third consecutive Constructors’ Championship. Red Bull, with 330 points, leads Ferrari by just 60 points in the Constructors' Championship.

Last year Red Bull won the Constructors' by 451 points over Mercedes. This year, the chase is it least interesting, 10 races into the 24-race season.

“With the penalty we had, where we started, it was so difficult to pass on that first stint and then my race was over,” Perez said. “It was a nightmare of a race. It was very difficult race overall. In the end, we switched to a three-stop and we managed to come back to [Pierre] Gasly and secure eighth, but it was very hard.”

“We need Checo in the mix,” Horner said. “And he knows that. And the team knows that. And if he’s on the back end of the top eight you lose strategic options, whether you split it or so on, Checo in the first four or five races this year was fantastic, we just need to get him back into that headspace.

“He’s had a couple of difficult races. And things haven’t gone his way, and he’s a confidence driven driver I think, and hopefully he will have taken some.”