This scenario also gives the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda more time to prove they deserve to be promoted to the works team in the future.

Ricciardo has started to show glimpses of his old form but is lacking the consistency while Tsunoda is enjoying his strongest season yet but hasn’t yet proved to Red Bull he can step up.

It’s frustrating for reserve driver Liam Lawson, however Red Bull continue to rate him highly and have been impressed by his efforts both behind the wheel and off-track. They consider him part of their future.

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He’ll get another opportunity to show his talent on Wednesday when he runs a 2022-spec AlphaTauri at Imola as part of a filming day. That run isn’t a shoot-out or test of his speed but rather part of his duties as reserve driver for both Red Bull and RB – however, every positive run in a car can aid your argument.

So, for now, it’s as you were. If Perez finds his form, talk about his future will ebb away. But continue to struggle and it’s the nature of Formula 1 that the pressure will remain.