RED BULL’S YOUTH UNCONVENTION
Red Bull’s usual driver policy is to focus on youth and promote from within, so the signing of veteran Sergio Pérez, 31, on a one-year deal to partner Max Verstappen represents a clear break with normality.
It will puzzle some that Pierre Gasly – demoted from Red Bull for underperformance midway through 2019 but a brilliant race winner for Alphatauri last season – wasn’t considered for re-promotion, or that his replacement, Alex Albon, wasn’t given a further chance after his improved showing in the final race of last year.
But both these drivers are known quantities now, and neither performed consistently well enough relative to Verstappen for Red Bull to feel confident they could do the heavy lifting in a constructors’ battle with Mercedes.
Too often Max has been outgunned against Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas because his post-daniel Ricciardo team-mates have become mired in the midfield instead of racing at the front.
Pérez did not deserve to lose his Racing Point seat after finishing fourth in the championship – the place Albon should by rights have made his own. An opportunistic victory in the Sakhir GP sealed the deal for Pérez while Red Bull waits for new talent – Yuki Tsunoda in particular – to cycle through.
“We reached a unique situation where there was a driver like Sergio on the market, and it offered another dynamic to bring into the team with the experience and knowledge that he has,” explains Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.
“Both Pierre and Alex are still very capable drivers that are still part of the programme, who if we didn’t believe they had talent wouldn’t have been retained. But we just came to the conclusion that Sergio, with the dynamic [he brings] and the experience he has, with the results he delivered last year, was hard to overlook.”