“Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver despite recent speculation and we look forward to seeing him perform at tracks he has previously excelled at after the summer break,” Christian Horner said to the Red Bull team ending the rumor mill of the Sergio Perez’s departure. However, the speculations of Checo’s F1 exit still haven’t ended. Ex-F1 driver Johnny Herbert believes Sergio Perez is now “a broken man mentally” despite Red Bull’s commitment to him beyond the summer break and names his worthy successor.

Red Bull, unlike all other crews, has a sister team on the grid, called Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Team. It has been an age-old tradition in Red Bull to demote a poor-performing driver to their ‘junior’ team and subsequently promote a driver from it. With Sergio Perez’s uncontrollable downward spiral, it was understood that Daniel Ricciardo might be the one who completes Max Verstappen for the rest of the season. But Johnny Herbert believes otherwise.

Herbert feels Red Bull should have replaced with Yuki Tsunoda. According to Crash.net, he said, “Red Bull should replace Perez with Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo isn’t good enough. Has Daniel earned a place at Red Bull? I don’t think so, at least not yet. He has not been strong enough against Yuki Tsunoda. Yuki is the one I would give a go to. His racing has improved.” 

Understanding it is a fact that Yuki Tsunoda has cumulatively outperformed the 8x Grand Prix winner Ricciardo, there might be some weight in his assessment. However, there is a specific reason why Herbert said this.

“The Red Bull dominance of old has gone:” Johnny Herbert backed Sergio Perez’s replacement pick

Last year, Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominance was at such a summit that his points alone could have won them the constructor’s championship. However, with 8 out of 14 wins going to no Red Bull teams, the days of no competition are over. For this, Red Bull needs to make a smart decision and look for Sergio Perez’s replacement, ensuring they don’t lose their grip on the constructors’ title. There best bet? Yuki or Daniel. But the Milton Keynes based outfit desperately needs both its drivers to score points.

Herbert said, “It would not be the Daniel of old who would be up against Max. The pressure on Max is huge. The Red Bull dominance of old has gone. That is not happening anymore. It’s all on his shoulders. You need two drivers to get as many points as you can if you are not going to win a race as Max has been doing for the past couple of seasons.”

That being said, McLaren’s threat to Red Bull is continuously mounting, with both its drivers stealing wins and podiums in almost every race. Red Bull needs to combat that by making a wise decision.