Red Bull's chief mechanic on Sergio Perez's problems

      Sergio Perez has been at Red Bull Racing longer than any of Max Verstappen's previous teammates, even becoming vice-world champion in 2023, but after four seasons he has had to leave too. It is believed that any of the Dutchman's teammates are under immense pressure that few can withstand, and now Liam Lawson, who has taken Sergio's place in the Milton Keynes-based team, is facing that test.

      Calum Nicholas, chief mechanic of Red Bull Racing, taking part in the podcast High Performance, spoke about the reasons for the decline in Perez's results and what it means to work in the same team with the four-time world champion. Calum Nicholas: "It becomes a kind of a vicious circle. If you go too fast you probably only get slower because you make mistakes, and when you make mistakes there are more questions for you. So it's a very difficult situation. I think that because of the experience, Sergio was still the best of the lot trying to perform at Max's level. And I don't think Max had any influence on his psyche like he did with the other drivers. But when we were in Mexico, Sergio felt that the whole country was looking at him, and the burden of such responsibility is very heavy. In Mexico City it was very clear that he was a star of the first magnitude. And when he just came to our team and tried to work with the team, then, in my opinion, he did it perfectly well, and then he did not feel much pressure, tried not to give in to it. But, probably, at some point Sergio realized that the machine Red Bull allows you to fight for victory in the championship and felt that he also wants to enter the dispute for the title. And if the whole of Mexico wants the same from you, it's a heavy burden. But the problem is that you have to compete against a guy that's very difficult to beat. And it turns out that even on a day when you enter at the top of your game, it's still not enough. And it's killing you. As soon as you think that you too can claim to win the championship, in reality it turns out that your partner won't let you because he is faster than you."