Will Sergio Perez keep his Red Bull seat?

This season, the historical Red Bull team have been on fire, breaking F1 historical records and an all-around unshakeable team. They are the ones to beat. 

However, rumours haven't stopped about the underperforming Sergio 'Checo' Perez. Will he remain for next year? Or will he be replaced with the former team's golden boy, Daniel Ricciardo?

Sergio's Performance throughout the season

In the first four races of the season, Max Verstappen and Perez both claimed two victories, at which point Perez made it extremely clear that he intended on chancing his arm for the world championship.

The Red Bull team had the fastest vehicle in the field, but Sergio's aspirations quickly turned sour after a run in which he failed to qualify in the top 10 for five straight races.

The more this season went on, the more his hopes of competing for his first World Championship were lost. 

Not to mention that Max Verstappen was always seconds upon seconds ahead of him.

Helmut Marko makes Offensive remarks towards Sergio Perez

The former professional racing driver and advisor for the Red Bull team has stirred up controversy once again.

This time for making offensive remarks towards Sergio Perez and his nationality. Something I'm (and many others) are not shocked about.

"We know that he has problems in qualifying, he has fluctuations in form, he is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] is or as Sebastian [Vettel]."- Helmut Marko stated on Servus TV.

This comment and many others that Marko has made regarding Sergio's next season with the team have come into question.

It's also not the first time Marko has chosen to bring up this 'South American' comment when criticising Checo. Not to mention that this is geographically incorrect as Perez is from Mexico, which is in North America.

I don't see a reason to even state his nationality, as it serves no purpose in the questioning of Sergio's up-and-down season.

Helmut hasn't mentioned anyone else in this way (not least one that's been documented). This begs the question of why. Was it his way of having a quick dig at Perez? Was it a mistake or was he trying to offend Sergio?

It's a well-known fact that Marko makes cut-throat comments in the media towards his underperforming drivers. Take his comments on Nyck De Vries.

"We expected that this year he would at least perform at the level of Yuki Tsunoda, but this did not happen... he was constantly three-tenths slower and we didn't see any progress. He is already 28."- No sugarcoating from Marko when discussing De-Vries.

Later the Austrian tried to clean up his remarks about Perez, but it only furthered the hole he was digging for himself.

"It wasn't meant that way. I meant that a Mexican has a different mentality than a German or a Dutchman. But who knows, maybe it's controlled."- a shabby attempt from the Doctor to clear his image on an Austrian website (www.oe24.at)

Sergio has a lot of fans, and I see many of these Mexican fans fly near and far to support their local hero.

When I was in Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgium Grand Prix this year. Many of the fans were Mexican wearing the Red Bull Merchandise.

I feel as if these comments will put a sour taste in Mexican fans' mouths as it's a distasteful comment. To have someone so high up and powerful in the Red Bull food chain say this will discourage those fans from wanting to support the team.

Not to mention that Sergio brings lots of sponsors to the energy drinks team. Such as clothing brands (Telcel, Telmex, Xades, Tag Heuer, Kavak, Banorte and Unifin,), as well as being an ambassador for his home town of Jalisco. Promoting tourism and helping his home town thrive.

Does Red Bull really want to lose these extra Sponsors and fans?

The fact that the team itself hasn't released a professional statement shows they're trying to sweep this comment under the rug and move on. But it needs to be addressed.

I think Sergio needs to prove himself to be the bigger man and do well at the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix. Checo is known to do well on street circuits, this can be his time to shine and show Helmut that his being Mexican has nothing to do with his driving.

Who Will Take The Seat?

Red Bull isn't short of options when it comes to replacing Checo. The returning Daniel Ricciardo after replacing Nyck de Vries from Alpha Tauri has been a fan favourite for the potential open seat. However, Liam Lawson replacing the injured Australian, has shaken up the discussion with his great results.

Daniel Ricciardo lost his McLaren seat last year after a slow decline in his performance. Many wanted to see Daniel redeem himself this year after being given the chance to take over from Nyck de Vries in the Alpha Tauri.

Daniel's results had been good for the machinery he is in, but an on-track injury to his hand resulting in surgery has left his short stint even shorter.

Liam Lawson has come in and completely surpassed teammate Yuki Tsunoda and has been an impressive replacement to the grid.

The real question is if Sergio is truly to be left with no seat next year, who will take it?

I do believe it will be down between Liam and Daniel but it really depends on Daniel's performance after his recovery. Even with Daniel being recovered, Will he have enough strength in his hand to handle the car after such a harsh break?

Like always in Formula One, you can never truly predict what each team's next move will be. But next seasons seat allocation will definitely be one fans won't want to miss.