Why Red Bull might be in a 'Bottas 2.0' situation with Sergio Perez this season

F1 pundit Nate Saunders recently compared Sergio Perez's situation at Red Bull to Valtteri Bottas's stint at Mercedes.

F1 has always been a two-driver team sport, and there have been multiple instances where one driver has outperformed the other in equal machinery. In recent years, it was most evident at Mercedes, where Lewis Hamilton was winning championships year after year while Bottas was only able to come in second, occasionally winning some races.

According to Saunders, the same is happening to Sergio Perez at the moment. Speaking on the ESPN Unlapped podcast, he explained:

"It's a strange one because it feels like he's in a downward spiral. I think that it's very telling to me that Christian Horner has now, on multiple occasions, said that Sergio's going to stop thinking about the championship and go race by race. So clearly, the feeling within Red Bull is that Sergio is getting himself worked up about, you know, the championship."

The F1 pundit further stated that while Sergio Perez is a good driver, he seems to be struggling quite a lot to keep up with a brilliant racer like Max Verstappen. He said:

"We see this with great drivers when they're against good drivers. It's very easy to suddenly, for the good driver, who's still very, very talented in their own right, to kind of, get into this spiral."

Saunders added:

"You're pushing a bit too hard; he's thinking, 'I've got to make up lost ground'. You make a mistake again, so you're constantly having to kind of, almost push harder to make up for the mistake that you just made. But the mistake you just made was to make up for a mistake you made before that. It seems I think when another Bottas 2.0 situation."

Only time will tell whether Sergio Perez will pull himself up and close the gap to Max Verstappen in the championship, or if he will start feeling the pressure from other drivers further down the grid.

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Red Bull is gauging Daniel Ricciardo as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez

Red Bull's taskmaster Helmut Marko recently explained how the team's reserve driver, Daniel Ricciardo will be driving the RB19 in a three-day Pirelli tire test in Silverstone. During that time, the team will test the Australian's pace and how capable he is. Speaking to ORF, Marko said:

“After Silverstone, we will have Ricciardo in the car for three days at a Pirelli tyre test. And there we can evaluate: Where really [in terms of pace] is Ricciardo?”

Marko also spoke about Sergio Perez and how the Mexican's goal was to stay with Red Bull for only a few years. Hence, the team is trying to keep every possible option open, which means keeping a successor for the Red Bull seat ready.

“His [Sergio Perez's] initial goal was two or three years. That would be more than he planned anyway. You just have to keep the options open for the successor.”

Daniel Ricciardo has previously raced for the Austrian-British team and won many races with the Austrian-British outfit. However, the tests will reveal whether he is truly ready to get back in an F1 car and perform at the highest level.