Sergio Perez believes Red Bull's recent dip in performance isn't a surprise, at least from his perspective.
The Mexican driver entered the summer break under heavy speculation that his newly signed contract for 2025 and 2026 could be terminated due to his inconsistent form.
Former double world champion Mika Hakkinen is among those who think Red Bull should have let him go.
"He was not able to deliver for Red Bull, and it has influenced the success," Hakkinen said. "This has been a very negative thing. He has been there a long time. He had the chance to study himself, to understand himself, what does he need to be number one, and he has failed to do that."
Despite this, Red Bull decided to keep Perez on board, likely because Max Verstappen has also started to struggle with the 2024 car.
"The priority of course is that Max wins the drivers' championship," Dr Helmut Marko told Osterreich newspaper. "But Checo is not bad, he's just slower."
The customary gap between Perez and Verstappen conspicuously narrowed at Monza, marking Verstappen's sixth consecutive race without a win. However, Perez doesn't take much comfort from the reduced gap.
"No, I wish the gap was bigger and that Max was winning because at the end that will only help the team in the constructors' championship especially," the 34-year-old said. "We've got a lot of work to do to fix this issue and hopefully the next few races can be better for us."
Perez feels somewhat vindicated now that Verstappen is also struggling with the car.
"I feel like I'm in the same situation as the last eight or ten races," Perez said. "Only, all of a sudden, Max is having similar problems to me. Sure, there's a bit of confusion, but it's also quite clear what the problem is by looking at the data collected on the track."
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff agrees that Red Bull shouldn't be written off just yet.
"Who am I to say something like that?" he remarked.
"We had two years in which nothing worked. And it was the same at Ferrari a few races ago. I don't think we should write them off. They are a formidable team, and I am sure they will have better races in the future."
Still, Wolff believes McLaren is currently in a strong position to challenge Red Bull for the constructors' championship. "They have two drivers who reliably score points," he said. "I bet Red Bull would not have expected that at the beginning of the year."
As for Perez, while he's signed up through 2025 and 2026, he's unsure how much longer he'll continue his Formula 1 career.
"I know that I'm towards the end of my career, because I don't want to do it for too long," Perez told The Times. "There will be a time, I don't know when, where I will just have to say, 'Look, I cannot live anymore with leaving my family behind all the time.'"
Perez is clear about where he wants to finish his career.
"I want to end my career here," he said, referring to Red Bull. "I don't know when, but it's a team that has given me everything, and I want to give everything back to them as well. Before that, hopefully we are able to win a few more championships."
Regarding Red Bull's recent struggles, Perez believes the team's main focus is on restoring balance to the car's handling.
"If we can find a solution to these problems, we can turn things around," Perez explained. "For now, we have to keep our heads down until we find an answer."
