Red Bull bosses appear split on Sergio Perez as a decision on their driver pairing for next year is imminent.
The Mexican replaced Alex Albon for 2021 after an impressive end to last season, becoming the first non-Red Bull junior to join the team since Mark Webber in 2007.
It was hoped Perez’s experience would allow Red Bull to fix their problem of not having a second driver who could properly support Max Verstappen in a potential championship battle.
And so far team boss Christian Horner thinks he is living up to expectations.
“I think Sergio has delivered the role we’ve been hoping for,” he said.
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“You saw that in Baku when he picked up a victory on the day he was able to put Lewis under pressure.
“He’s been collecting those Constructors’ points and playing the team game, as we saw at the French Grand Prix. He’s a great team player and we are very happy with the job he’s doing.”
However, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko doesn’t seem as satisfied with Checo’s performance.
“There is a gap to Max and he [Perez] is not happy about it, we would also expect him to be closer or more consistent after so many races,” the Austrian explained.
“He’s tried to find his own set-up instead of using Max’s, and maybe that’s the best thing for a driver to do.
“You can’t be too close to Max’s settings. Max doesn’t care when his F1 car oversteers in fast corners but all our second drivers have had problems with that.
“Perez has experienced the same thing. He tried his set-up but it didn’t work, it’s a real headache.”
Marko confirmed an announcement on 2022 will come either this weekend at Spa or next week at Zandvoort, and Horner sees enough reasons to maintain the status quo.
“Our view has always been to give youth the chance and I think Red Bull, more than any other team, has done that,” he said.
“But occasionally, you need to step out of the program. I think it was a brave decision to do that, but I think it was the right decision. The dynamic in the team is working well.
“Pierre [Gasly] is doing a fantastic job at AlphaTauri and is still very much a Red Bull racing driver, so we are in a good place.”