There's something about the second Red Bull seat next to Max Verstappen that is so demanding. Going against one of the best drivers of recent times proves to be tough - just ask Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon or more recently, Sergio Perez.
It's no secret that the Mexican driver, who joined the team in 2021, has something to prove after a row of disappointing weekends, with Silverstone being the latest example.
The media are now talking about a performance clause in his contract which he seems to not be achieving - so the fragility of his Red Bull contract may not be saved.
What went wrong?
Sergio Perez made his Formula 1 debut with Sauber in 2011 and was a part of the Ferrari driver academy before joining McLaren for 2013. He achieved a few podiums during his first few seasons, but no wins.
In 2014 he made the move to Force India and stayed with the team as they went through financial troubles during the 2018 season. He then left Aston Martin after 2020 after a brilliant win at that year's Sakhir Grand Prix.
His tenure at Red Bull has been mixed, with wins and podiums, but he's never been able to full grasp the car that's built around Verstappen's aggressive driving style.
Though never ranked higher than Max Verstappen, Red Bull kept him for his loyalty to the team and 'confirmed second driver status', which helped them concentrate on the current world champion.
In 2024, though, his performances have been inexcusable. Since the start of the season, he has only been on the podium four times and only scored 15 points since Miami, whereas his teammate has scored 119.
The team did, to the confusion of many fans, renew his contract for '25 and '26, but this hangs in the balance with his recent finishes.
Now, with how close the top teams are getting, Red Bull will be hoping for two drivers who can work together on grabbing enough points to clinch the constructor's title.
After the Silverstone Grand Prix, where he crashed out in Q1 and finished the race in 17th, the team has been putting pressure on him to improve his form.
After the race, team principal, Christian Horner, said: “[Perez] knows it’s unsustainable to not be scoring points – we have to be scoring points in that car, and he knows that. He knows his role and his target, so nobody is more eager than Checo to find his form again.”
He then said: “It’s something we’re acutely aware of, that to win the constructors’ championship you need both cars scoring.”
But, why?
Is it the car? Is it him? We don't really know. What we do know is that many previous drivers in the Red Bull camp have struggled to drive a car that is so suited to Verstappen's front-heavy driving style - Daniel Ricciardo basically left the team because of it.
He's not the only driver on the grid to face this - Ricciardo has had problems adapting the new style of regulations and Lewis Hamilton has found that Mercedes focus how Russell likes to develop the car due to his move to Ferrari next year.
But he's been fast in this car though. At the start of this season, he had four podiums in five races - so it looks like he's just going through a tricky time right now.
It's a bad time for this though - the Mclarens are getting closer and Max is finding the car difficult to set up perfectly - so Red Bull need a second driver to pick up the pieces, which he's simply not doing.
Even if the car is not suited for him - he needs to at least stay in the top five for him to be considered fast enough for a top seat. He hasn't managed that in the last six races.
With this poor form, it means he plays second driver more than usual to Max - and this was true in Silverstone with the early change to intermediate tires.
As Perez went out, the team could use his times and data to decide when the best time to pit Max was - so at least he helped the team a little bit. But he still shouldn't have been outside the top ten to begin with.
What happens next?
Well the easiest thing would be for Perez to step up and be faster, but that's easy for us to say. If he struggles with the car that is being upgraded more to suit Max, it'll be difficult for him to move up.
He'll have to look at how he can improve his results on track because his contract apparently features two performance clauses.
One is that he's less than 100 points away from Max at the Summer break and the end of the season (he's currently 119 points adrift) and the other being that he's less than five places away from Max in the championship (he's sixth when Max is first).
Helmut Marko has also always been on the wrong side of Checo - with racist comments and his love for Verstappen being primary reasons, so it would be no surprise if Red Bull fired Perez halfway through the season.
Who would replace him though? There's no one in the Red Bull academy who is currently wooing everyone with their performances.
Yuki Tsunoda is the most likely candidate - he's been fast, consistent and more mature. However, Marko seems to think he's not ready for a Red Bull seat, allegedly.
There's also Daniel Ricciardo, who was brought in last year as a possible replacement for Perez, but his on-track results have been less than he'd hoped for.
Lastly out of the academy, Liam Lawson is waiting in the wings for a chance. After an impressive outing in 2023's stand-in performance, he's waiting for a chance to show what he can do.
Lawson also has an on-track test coming up with Red Bull, which the team denies is part of a scheme to bring him in to replace Checo.
The problem with this seat is that the team needs someone who is comfortable with being number two behind Max. Perez knows that he won't win Championships with Red Bull, but he needs to just be within a couple tenths of his teammate.
A new driver in the sport would try to get ahead - which is exactly what the team doesn't need in a time of conflict already within.
Sergio Perez will now be hoping to get ahead of this struggle before the Summer break in August. He next races in Hungary in two weeks.
