The Mexican’s performances have come under intense scrutiny this year amid Max Verstappen’s utter domination of the 2023 season. Verstappen has accumulated a remarkable 12 wins from 14 races, with Perez picking up the other two victories in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. The shock return of Daniel Ricciardo to Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri has only heightened the pressure on Perez, who is 145 points adrift of Verstappen in the championship. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has repeatedly insisted that Perez’s seat is safe for 2024, as per his contract, but that hasn’t stopped rumours from swirling - particularly following some mixed messaging…