Today marks exactly one full year since Sergio Perez last celebrated victory in a Formula 1 grand prix.
Over the first four rounds of 2023, the Red Bull driver took two victories. The first in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, before holding off team mate Max Verstappento win in Azerbaijan.But since that last victory around the notorious street circuit – that led to his race engineer Hugh Bird dubbing him the ‘King of Baku’ – Perez has been on the wrong end of one of the most lop-sided intra-team battles that any front running outfit has ever seen.
In the full calendar year since the last time car number 11 stopped in front of the number one board in parc ferme, its sister car has done so 21 times – the most wins over any 365-day span in the sport’s history.
But it goes much further than victories. Verstappen has only failed to finish once over that time, after his overheating brakes forced him out of the running early on in last month’s Australian Grand Prix. In the other 22 races, Verstappen only failed to win on one other occasion in Singapore, where Red Bull suffered an extremely rare off-weekend which ruined what would have otherwise been a perfect season for the world champions.
Despite his team mate’s success, Perez has not enjoyed anywhere close to the same run of form as Verstappen over the last year.
Verstappen vs Perez over the last year:
| Driver | Poles | Q2s | Q3s | Av. Grid | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Top 5s | Top 10s | Finish rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perez | 1 | 21 | 15 | 8.52 | 23 | 0 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 91.30% |
| Verstappen | 16 | 23 | 23 | 2.43 | 23 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 95.65% |
Immediately after that Baku round, Perez secured pole for in Miami while Verstappen failed to set a Q3 time – he made a mistake on his first run, then a red flag denied him a second attempt. But despite starting from eight places lower on the grid than his team mate in a race without Safety Cars, Verstappen made his way up the order, caught and passed Perez and won the race.
That Miami race was arguably the closest Perez has come to victory over the last 12 months. In that time he has taken half as many podium finishes of his team mate, qualified an average of just under six positions lower on the grid than Verstappen and has led 1,043 fewer laps.
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But there have been distinct phases to Perez’s disappointing year. Following his Miami defeat, Monaco marked the start of an infamous run of five consecutive rounds where Perez failed to reach Q3. Although he managed to take three podiums before the summer break, including back-to-back rounds at the Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps, he could only finish in the top three once over the following five rounds.
Although Perez did not win again over those final five rounds following Qatar, he was a lot more consistent. He finished inside the top five in all but one grand prix, with the only time he failed to do so being when he crashed out of his home race in Mexico on the opening lap after an ambitious move into turn one failed to pay off. He was back on the podium for the first time in seven rounds in Las Vegas – even if he was mugged of second place on the final lap by Charles Leclerc in the process – and should have finished third in the final round in Abu Dhabi, except for a penalty for a collision with Lando Norris.
Heading into 2024, Perez knew he was driving to secure his future in Formula 1 with Red Bull. Out of contract at the end of this year, Perez had to convince Red Bull that he was the team’s best option to continue to run aside Verstappen and not Yuki Tsunoda or Daniel Ricciardo – or even an available free agent like Carlos Sainz Jnr.
Although Perez has not come close to a victory in 2024 thus far – or even led a single lap this season – the results speak for themselves. Over the opening five rounds of the season, Perez has both his highest average qualifying and race finish position of any five-race run over the last year. He has only missed the podium once, in Melbourne, but even then team principal Christian Horner apologised to him after the race for his car’s lack of performance to its rivals, suggesting that his team did not blame him for missing out on a top three finish.
Perez’s last 12 months in statistics
| Year | Races | Rounds | Q2% | Q3% | Av. Q pos | Av. Q deficit to VER | DNFs | Av. finish | Podiums | Top 10s | Top 5s | Laps led |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | MIA-CAN | 4 | 75% | 20% | 11 | +0.884 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 21 |
| 2023 | AUT-BEL | 4 | 75% | 50% | 10.75 | +0.599 | 0 | 3.5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 14 |
| 2023 | NTH-QAT | 5 | 100% | 60% | 8.6 | +0.716 | 1 | 8.6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 2023 | USA-ABU | 5 | 100% | 80% | 8.8 | +0.571 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 2024 | BAH-CHN | 5 | 100% | 100% | 3 | +0.288 | 0 | 2.8 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
With 85 points, Perez sits a respectable 25 behind his team mate but nine ahead of Leclerc in second place in the championship. More importantly, Perez has helped his team to a 44-point advantage in the constructors’ championship with a fifth of the season already in the books – making Red Bull the outstanding favourites to once again defend both their titles. Which is exactly what Red Bull want out of a second driver.
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Despite Perez’s improvement, Horner insists his team are “not very” close to deciding who they want to race alongside Verstappen next season. But he has been very happy with Perez’s performance so far.
Asked why he believed Perez seems to be performing better this season, Horner joked “probably because he’s out of contract!”
“I think Checo has been working hard behind the scenes,” Horner continued. “He’s put a lot of a lot of hours in on the sim and his approach going into a Grand Prix weekend and set-up and so on has converged with his team-mate. So he’s applying himself well and has driven some good races so far this year.”
Although Perez will continue to insist he aims for a world championship title, four seasons into his tenure at Red Bull and he does not appear to be any closer to challenging Verstappen for the ultimate prize. However, while ‘good races’ may not be enough to secure him the number one on his car, they could keep his number 11 in Red Bull colours beyond the end of this season.
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Mayrton
30th April 2024, 8:55
Interesting but also hardly a surprise. Perez shouldn’t be in F1 and is only because of (ironically) Ricciardo (‘s sudden leave towards Renault). So comparing him to the best around at the moment will give you this picture. What I personally would like to see is Perez going somewhere where he teams up with Bottas.
knightameer (@knightameer)
30th April 2024, 9:36
Perez and Bottas in the same team. Is the team named ‘Barrichello No Dreams F1 Team’??
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th April 2024, 10:37
Perez deserves to be in f1, unless you think vettel took his seat at force india on merit? Cause I don’t, I think he only took that seat because he happened to luck on a great car in the past, but in terms of recent performances perez was significantly better than vettel when he got replaced.
Mayrton
1st May 2024, 10:18
I agree on that
Patrick (@anunaki)
30th April 2024, 10:45
Perez was regarded a pretty good driver in 2020 before he joined Redbull. In the F1 power ranks he ended 3rd and on this website he was 7th (2020), 6th (2019) and 7th (2018)
Max is just extremely good
Ajaxn
30th April 2024, 14:16
Breaking news Newley resigns??!
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
1st May 2024, 0:38
THis does seem to be actively widely speculated in the media now doesnt it. I’d go so far as to say it looks almost certain now, but until it’s fact, it isn’t I guess.
CP
30th April 2024, 9:12
Perez – the worst driver in the modern era in arguably the best race car.
I don’t care how good Verstapen is and I think he is one of the best, you can’t go 21-0…surely you win the odd battle.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th April 2024, 10:38
Yes, that’s a pretty damning stat, reminiscent of albon’s destruction by verstappen at red bull, even at a time where perez is doing better now.
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 11:59
I’m a big Perez critic, but I think you’d have to be insanely disingenuous to say he’s one of the worst drivers of this or any era. He’s been an above average driver for basically his entire career. If you meant to say he’s potentially the worst to be in the best race car in the modern era, that’s a wholly different discussion.
Alonso shut out Van Doorne over two straight seasons and nearly shut out Kimi in quali (and shut him out in the races, except for when he suffered a tire puncture) and Kimi was once fancied a qualifying hot shoe even if later it seemed quali was his Achilles heel.
What other, sledge hammerings have we seen in the modern era? Prost and Hill?
Albon’s consistency and Sargeant’s consistency in being awful are impressive. For all the crap he gets, Latiffi was far, far better than Logan.
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 12:07
I will caveat that, IMO, a lot of Perez’s standing was flattered by the fact his biggest strength (rear tire management) was perfectly suited to pulling out unexpected results with midfield teams running contra strategies. He would have looked much more mediocre had he driven in a car further up the field during that time.
David
30th April 2024, 12:09
People hate to hear it but Verstappen is operating at such a high level these days that you would need to be an elite-level driver to be in a position to take points from him in the same car.
Just because Hamilton would have 1/3rd of races where he wasn’t in the mood doesn’t mean that dropping points to average-yet-worthy teammates is the norm. Schumacher rarely dropped a point, and Senna and Prost only dropped points to fellow world champions.
F1 Fan
30th April 2024, 12:32
Or simply the contrary is that Verstappen is that good. People tend to not accept that because it gets in the way of their self perceived peaks of F1.
Verstappen is the most consistent driver in all of F1.
If people have to go back to his days with Ricciardo to make a point they’ve already lost thr argument because Verstappen’s trajectory in itself is incomparable to any other driver in F1.
I don’t see fellow drivers dissing on him week in week out. Only Hamilton every few months but that’s because he has always been insecure. All I see are drivers who are more than willing to admit they’re not as good as Max.
S
30th April 2024, 14:20
I can’t say I’ve ever heard an active F1 driver say that of themselves, or even infer it. Post-F1, perhaps – but certainly not anyone currently competing in the series.
What I have heard a lot, however, is drivers conceding that the package of Verstappen and his team are working the best – and that’s not event slightly hidden code for a respectable driver having by far the best car.
The same was said about Hamilton, Vettel and Schumacher in the recent past too – and none of them were producing stellar results when their car was no longer dominant.
F1 is a series where team orders and team policy preference are not uncommon, either…
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 14:31
Going back to Ricciardo is fully fair. Talking about trajectories makes me chuckle. Every F1 superstar has been 99% as good as they’d ever be in their rookie season. You cannot pretend that in Max’s third and fourth season he had lots of growth to come. 2018 Max let alone 2019 Max would be a match for 2024 Max.
ludewig
30th April 2024, 19:43
@Nick T
I think that you’d be hard pressed to find drivers who were less well prepared for F1 than Max and worse prepared for a top tier team. He had just a single year of open wheel experience before getting into F1 and joined at the ripe age of 17. Then he was promoted to the main team after a season and a bit.
It’s testament to his immense talent that he was able to beat Sainz who had 5 years of open wheel experience and then kept up very well with Ricciardo, at a level of experience and at an age where pretty much every other driver was still in a lower series.
And yet in his 3rd season he was beaten by Ricciardo, but then beat him in the 4th season.
And in that 3rd season at RB and his 4th in F1, he still just had as many years of open wheel experience as Sainz had at his F1 debut.
Nick T.
1st May 2024, 2:53
Kimi had even far less. He had no problems. So, no. That argument doesn’t work. He’s a remarkable talent. Clearly in the argument for the top 5 GOAT. But a clear step above those other 3-5 GOATs? No. Maybe in time he’ll show us he is. But he’ll have to do more than dominate in the best car on the grid to establish that.
ludewig
1st May 2024, 10:12
@Nick T
That is true if you look at his statistics, but of course they did have unlimited testing at the time.
Nick T.
2nd May 2024, 0:59
Multiple seasons + pre-season testing is more than enough. Also, Sauber wasn’t like Ferrari or McLaren, they’d didn’t have the budget for anything close to the testing regime of those teams. Finally, the younger you are, the less time you need to adapt. In many ways, Max’s route was ideal rather than a handicap.
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 14:39
I’ll add: when have we ever seen drivers dismissing a driver during a multiple-WDC run? Never. We’ve seen criticism of their tactics, but not their talent or speed. And I don’t see any of the best drivers saying or “admitting” they’re not as good as Max even if they aren’t.
And this isn’t the first time a driver has been hailed as the untouchable GOAT during a long title run. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again. Once Max we again see Max in a car that isn’t dominant enough to allow an average and demoralized driver to easily pick up second place and outscore far superior drivers, we can start to analyze and pointlessly quibble about just where Max stands among F1’s 5-6 GOATs.
osnola
30th April 2024, 19:45
We all knew the moment lewis used the term “that guy” he was impressed and intimidated by max.
Nick T.
1st May 2024, 2:55
I won’t argue that. He drove like he had a screw lose when he first started battling the top drivers. Moving endlessly in the braking zone (on top of just being faster than Lewis).
MichaelN
30th April 2024, 14:14
Well, he did win the odd battle. It would be 22-2 if you add just a few more races to the comparison. But it’s rare, and that’s not abnormal. Verstappen is really good, and Pérez is merely solid. Previous big champions have also beaten their teammates by big margins.
Janith
1st May 2024, 11:03
No they haven’t. Not in the last 25 years
HK (@me4me)
30th April 2024, 9:21
Sainz situation has so far seemed tricky and his chances of a Red Bull seat slim.
Yet the more I think of it the more I think he’ll get it eventually.
A driver such as Perez can find something, technically or just his own peak form. But you don’t entirely erase a previous trend, I think. It’s highly likely that he’ll have a relapse at some point. There were signs of it in Australia but it coincided with car troubles so he got a free pass.
Also the conditions in which Perez has to operate and prove his value will toughen. The better Red Bulls rivals get the more Perez will struggle. He is just not quite as talented as Leclerc, Norris, Alonso etc. He’ll fall back first in qualifying and then as a result in the race. That will happen throughout 2024. Surely its pretty safe to assume that?
I think Sainz will have to be patient at let the races unfold naturally for Perez and hope for the described outcome. Meanwhile he’ll need to continue to prove himself and most importantly that he is better than Perez.
Jungle
30th April 2024, 11:01
McLaren plucked him from Sauber then 12mths later he was back in a midfield team, never really got the full explanation on why they dropped him.
David
30th April 2024, 12:11
He was a lot further behind Button than they expected and by the time he found a little form in the car McLaren had already moved on.
MichaelN
30th April 2024, 14:06
There were also a couple of instances where he played things a bit rough with Button on track, seemingly desperate to make a point, which didn’t please McLaren.
Ankita
30th April 2024, 14:28
what do you mean by “a lot” ? PER outqualified BUT and it was only around 25 points behind. None of them scored any remarkable result (e.g. podiums). That was all down to politics … Plus PER’s replacement was by no means better.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th April 2024, 21:50
Yes, I don’t like this view that perez somehow wasted a top team chance back then, mclaren was no longer a top team by the time he joined, perez’s only chance in a top team came now with red bull.
S
1st May 2024, 3:05
Except that this chance still only (politically) allows him to come second at best.
Perez knows why he is in the team and what his role is. I find it funny that people seem to think that Perez was ever in the running for the championship at Red Bull – or that he, himself, would have ever thought that.
Irvine was labelled as the only person in F1 at the time not competing for the championship – but it’s not an uncommon scenario. Neither Barichello, Bottas nor Perez were/are allowed to either – and you can probably add Webber to that list, given the team’s reaction to the Multi 21 saga and the crash at Turkey. Even Rosberg wasn’t allowed a chance every season at Merc.
David (@nvherman)
30th April 2024, 12:12
IIRC, at the time, it was because although the 2013 McLaren MP4-28 didn’t finish a single race on the podium for the first time since 2006, Perez was 11th in the WDC, two places lower than Button, who finished ahead of Perez more often than not when they both finished.
Also, at Abu Dhabi, Button had a faster race time following an early pitstop for a new nose, even though he started and finished behind, the team stated the data showed that Button was the faster driver
Janith
1st May 2024, 11:02
Who cares? Then ask why did Sauber drop Hulkenberg after 2013?
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
30th April 2024, 11:57
If Perez has “turned a corner”, he probably missed the apex…
Tommy Scragend
30th April 2024, 13:20
COTD.
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 12:04
I’d love rule in F1 that if the championship driver’s teammate isn’t within x points (or maybe better a combination of points, quali and finish positions) they must be replaced. But that’s just as unlikely as fans’ hope to see Max and Fernando go head-to-head at RBR.
Mr B
30th April 2024, 12:43
If you were to make that stipulation a result of championship finishing order then Perez would be safe. The car is so much better than the rest that if Perez performs as well as he can then he should be second in the championship. As long as the other car is finishing first in the championship then Red Bull really won’t want any more.
The purpose of your argument, I’m guessing, is that a more competent team mate would give Max a run for his money and at least make the action at the front more interesting. You’re certainly not the only advocate of that on here. It seems to me that would be a step too far in the interference of a private team from the FiA though.
An Sionnach
30th April 2024, 13:00
Ideally, a team in championship contention will have two drivers who aren’t tripping over each other, but finish consistently in the highest possible positions, but in the same order!
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 14:44
Only “ideally” if you’re running the team or you’re a fan of the #1. You, along with a few others, always immediately object and point out how a clear 1-2 works better for teams (which I agree with) despite making it clear we’re talking a pairing we’d prefer purely from an entertainment perspective.
Mr B
30th April 2024, 15:08
I’m not sure what objection you picked up on in my comment or if indeed i gave any particularly strong view.
Obviously the team works in the best interest of the team, on that basis Red Bull couldn’t do a great deal more.
Should the FiA step in and create a rule in relation to points position of the second driver and force a change of the second driver if they aren’t performing to a level stipulated by the FiA? Personally I’m not keen on telling anyone who they can and cannot employ.
I actually prefer a multi team/driver competition such as Ham v Ver in 2021. A third team/driver in that championship would have been even better.
Should we consider diluting the essence of F1 and make it a spec series? It’s a quicker way to closer racing I would imagine.
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 16:27
I was replying to An Sionnach (post beginning with “ideally”). I agreed with your post.
An Sionnach
30th April 2024, 21:22
I think it’s clear enough from what I said that I’m talking about it from the team’s perspective. It would be good to get a more competitive team mate for Max with this level of dominance. I’m not sure it will continue, though, and the team might only pick a very competitive driver if they think it might relieve Max of his boredom. Perez looks like their best bet at the moment. The same goes for Aston Martin who should want to keep Alonso happy. Lewis doesn’t have that ideal situation, but he wouldn’t have gotten the chance to go to Ferrari if he wasn’t Lewis Hamilton.
I don’t have an argument with anyone here. Just chiming in.
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 14:51
Correct. That’s why I cited a mixture of parameters like quali and finishing order. For example, if the driver finished behind more than 75% or was out qualified at a rate of more than 4-1.
And, yes, I consider this just a fantasy rule. A bit like when fans are asked who they’d put in each team if they could choose from all the F1 greats.
Mr B
30th April 2024, 16:45
Hi Nick T, yeah… that was my bad, my apologies.
I read the comment thinking it was a response to mine and couldn’t understand where you were coming from. Not surprising seeing as you were responding to someone else!
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 16:54
How dare you! I’ve been confused many times since there is no indication who replies are too.
Mr B
30th April 2024, 21:00
I’ve mistakenly hit ‘report comment’ whilst scrolling on the iPad more times than I care to remember too!
S
30th April 2024, 14:27
I’d rather a rule in F1 like they use in F2 – where the champion can not participate anymore….
Yep, who doesn’t love to see team orders in F1. Multi 21 again, anyone?
Top teams in F1 don’t like intra-team competition, and they maintain enough control over their drivers to make sure they don’t get it anymore than necessary. Just enough to attract some PR.
Nick T.
1st May 2024, 2:56
lol, I’ll always remember Vettel sounding like he was in tears in the car “he pushed me to the wall and I was s-s-s-so scared.”
Pete
30th April 2024, 12:25
For me, it seems like Perez finally “gets it”. He’s been trying to beat Max to the Championship and then when it becomes apparent after the first couple of races that he’s got no chance, he lets his head drop and is suddenly miles off the pace.
This year, he seems to have accepted that he isn’t going to win the Championship right from the start and is instead, looking to get the best results he can.
Mr B
30th April 2024, 12:50
I think you are probably right about Perez finally acknowledging he doesn’t have what it takes to compete head to head with Verstappen. I mean Helmut Marco has told him often enough!
If he’s smart he will try to put himself into a position where he might win the championship through a bit of luck. If he consistently brings it home second and Verstappen was unlucky enough to have some DNF’s or fall ill or like Schumacher in ‘99 have an accident that kept him out for a few races, then he might ‘luck into’ a championship. The history books won’t say he got lucky!
An Sionnach
30th April 2024, 13:11
Yes, his best chance is to drive within himself and score the best points he can, then hope for the best. Even the best drivers on the grid would be lucky to beat Verstappen. Alonso may fancy his chances, but then he’s his own biggest fan. I’d like to see what would happen, but even for him it would be better to beat Verstappen in a better car like Villeneuve did against Schumacher in 1997.
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 18:41
Sounds like someone has been listening to The Race too often. ; ) Anyway, he has to be his own cheerleader because he’s been routinely marginalized by the British F1 media ever since 2007. They were unbiased with him before Hamilton-gate, but after that they’ve always given him minimal coverage, as little recognition as they can get away with and invariably take the most negative view of anything he does on or off the track.
An Sionnach
30th April 2024, 21:37
I can’t stand The Race. Its level of bias is difficult to stomach. I didn’t like the coverage of Mansell and Hill years ago and that seems relatively tame compared to the likes of The Race and Sky today. I rate Alonso highly, but it is true that he likes to remind us how great he is. I like him and as a (hopefully!) reasonably neutral viewer, his performance level has impressed me enough to look forward to seeing what he can do each race weekend. The results may not be as good as last year, but his driving has been the highlight of 2024 so far. Is he getting better? He’s marginally younger than me so I would like to think so!
I think there’s a paranoia about British bias, but it has come from the fact that it definitely exists and those who best a Brit favourite are doomed to a lifetime of persecution. In Schumacher’s case that spitefulness reached a new low with how his son’s firing was savoured and his mistakes exaggerated.
ludewig
30th April 2024, 19:55
@Mr B
Thinking that he can win the championship with a little luck is already delusional. Perez is not Rosberg.
Checo only becomes champion if something very significant happens to Max and he misses a whole bunch of races.
Mr B
30th April 2024, 20:51
Yes, I would agree.
My thoughts were an illness or like I said something similar to Schumacher in ‘99.
It was Schumacher’s broken leg that gave Irvine a slim chance in the championship.
Although, ultimately, Irvine like Perez wasn’t a championship winning driver.
Dex
30th April 2024, 13:06
When you say 21-0 down to someone, there’s no need to read anything that comes after but (except if you were going to say that Perez was driving whilst being in a coma or something, and he’s just awoken).
There’s no shame in being slower than someone else, BUT there’s also no way to twist cold, merciless facts. ‘Tis what it is.
Coventry Climax
30th April 2024, 13:25
The point is he’s been way behind Verstappen -and many others- on nearly every corner he’s turned on every circuit over the past couple of years, and it’s not going to change, whatever analysis and statistics you throw at it or whatever story you spin around it.
Ajaxn
30th April 2024, 13:37
Perez will only win a race if Verstappen’s dad allows the team to let him win….
Dex
30th April 2024, 17:02
Oh, so Verstappen is so good because his dad is forcing the team to make him good. Some good dad he has, able to erase half a second from his lap times. You recon his mom is innocent in all this? Maybe she throws curses at Perez or something. His sister is to be blamed also, I’ve seen her on a couple or races; that has to raise suspicion.
You still have to explain his family makes all other teams slower, and how half the grid is able to beat Perez, but no one can get near Max. They are more powerful than the Reptilians.
Nick T.
30th April 2024, 18:45
I dunno, Dex. After looking at pictures of his past victims, he probably only needs to glance in the direction of the pit wall for them to engage “MAX POWER” on his car while flipping the “CHECO ENGINE” light on Sergio’s car. ; )
ludewig
30th April 2024, 19:58
@Dex
Didn’t you see the banana peels on the track that Max’ family keeps throwing in front of Perez’ car?
Or did I accidentally watch a Mario Kart race instead of F1?
erik
1st May 2024, 10:04
you cannot with any reasonable sense, think this… are you so far gone in your dislike for verstappen that you actaully believe your own ridiculous conspiracies? oohboy i just feel for people like you, you’re mentally not in healthy place, you do realise that?
RR
30th April 2024, 16:27
IIRC Perez won two races last year, early on. But by Monaco he was finished as a quality driver. I think Horner wants Sainz, but Jos Max Marco want to keep a tier 2 driver so Max can shine alone.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th April 2024, 21:34
Yes, perez was pretty good early on last season, but he was no longer performing at that point.
I don’t think sainz would be bad for red bull, he can’t realistically beat verstappen, so he will be a number 2 as well, he would just be closer than perez is and steal some wins on good days, however I also think you shouldn’t fix what’s not broken, and perez this season is doing well enough to be a number 2 at red bull on merit, he’s not like the 2nd half of 2023 or like gasly or albon at red bull, who based on those performances should’ve been the reserve driver, not driving for a team.
erik
1st May 2024, 10:08
aah yes the excuses start to wear thin… no evidence just pure speculating so you can cope with it a little better. Lies you tell yourself so you’re a little less hurt by verstappen winning it all. Have some selfrespect and don’t make a f*ol of yourself.
Mark (@mrcento)
30th April 2024, 23:33
It’s not the 21-0 that’s particularly telling. Verstappen is clearly an exceptional qualifier. Perez has never really been about ultimate 1 lap pace. Sure, you’d hope he’d get the odd one but doesn’t look much better if it’s 21-0 or 18-3.
The real tell is Perez, in that dominant car Max can stick on pole by some large margins, not routinely sticking it in 2nd or 3rd. You can account for someone like Leclerc getting the odd 2nd or pole, but no way should Perez routinely also be getting beaten by a combination of a 2nd Ferrari, often 2 McLarens AND Alonso in the Aston, or all of them… Has started fine this season, but even in the 5 races we’ve had, he’s dropped a 5th and 6th place start in, compared to last seasons 1st 5 races where he’d qualified in the top 3 in 4 out of the 1st 5 races including 2 poles, it’s probably too early to say he’s definitely turned a corner.
David BR (@david-br)
1st May 2024, 0:44
I think the score would be exactly the same with 14 other drivers on the grid. Only 5 would have any chance of winning one race or more and only two would make it an actual competition with Verstappen for the title.
Janith
1st May 2024, 10:59
How do you know? Why not dump Perez and see for ourselves?
Janith
1st May 2024, 11:06
Sergio Perez has been totally rubbish at Red Bull. He hasn’t given Red Bull anything. They would win the Constructor’s in 2022, 2023, 2024 with any driver in the 2nd seat. He obviously cost Red Bull the Constructors’ in 2021
Esteban
2nd May 2024, 0:14
Well, he’s the number 1 driver in merchandise earnings, so that’s why he’s still at Red Bull being as mediocre as he is at driving.