Sergio Perez started the 2023 season on a positive note. He was a Championship contender after winning races in Azerbaijan and Jeddah. However, after that, he has not been able to match the pace of his much younger teammate, Max Verstappen.
On a normal race weekend, a driver can score a maximum of 26 points. After 12 races, Max Verstappen has scored 314 points, which gives him an average of 26.1. Since he won all the Sprint races so far this season, he has an average of more than 26 points.
Sergio Perez on the other hand has scored only 189 points after 12 races. This seems very low when compared with Max Verstappen. However, even with just 189 points, Checo stands 2nd in the WDC. There has been a lot of criticism of Sergio Perez for not matching the pace of Verstappen. Before the Hungarian Grand Prix, Sergio Perez failed to make it to Q3 for the previous 5 races. Even in the Hungaroring, he qualified in P9 while his teammate was in P2.
Christian Horner calls out the media for pressurising Checo
“He’s not only got the data to stare down the barrels, he’s got you guys to deal with who brief him every weekend ‘Why aren’t you at your teammate’s level.’ ”
“Nobody is at his teammate’s (Max) level.”
[ESPN Unlapped]… pic.twitter.com/2h7hwF2EC8
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) August 3, 2023
These instances have put his future with Red Bull in doubt. However, after a positive weekend in Belgium, Christian Horner has defended his Mexican driver.
“He’s not only got the data to stare down the barrels, he’s got you guys to deal with who brief him every weekend ‘Why aren’t you at your teammate’s level.'”
“Nobody is at his teammate’s (Max) level.”
Despite a few bad performances, Christian Horner is still happy with Perez as their driver. He finished P2 at the Belgian Grand Prix. However, his teammate finished P1 despite starting P6 in the race after a gearbox penalty. Max was even able to build a gap of over 20 seconds to Checo.
Why is Christian Horner not upset that Sergio Perez is not able to keep up with Max?
Christian Horner realizes that Max Verstappen is at another level now. Max Verstappen has won 10 races this season so far. Sergio Perez has won the remaining 2. The Dutch driver is currently on one of the longest winning streaks that could see him break the longest winning streak record that was set by Sebastian Vettel in 2013 with Red Bull.
Max has won 8 races in a row so far, while Sebastian Vettel holds the record at 9 wins in a row. Looking at the form Max Verstappen is in, he looks like he will break the record in the next 2 Grand Prix.
There is no chance that Sergio Perez can match this sort of performance. Even Christian Horner believes that Sergio Perez is nowhere near the performance of Max Verstappen. The RB19 seems like a perfect fit for Max Verstappen’s driving style. There is a chance that we will see the RB19 once again next year.
Battle of the Bulls ⚔️
It’s been a remarkable 12 races for Max and Checo ✨#F1 @redbullracing pic.twitter.com/WB6JhEZc0N
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 3, 2023
With half the season completed, Max Verstappen looks very likely to win the Championship. Sergio Perez is currently 2nd but is getting boxed in by Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. If Perez does not continue the performance he showed in Belgium, Lewis might be able to get 2nd place. This would not look very good for the Mexican
The future of Sergio Perez after the 2024 season is currently uncertain. Other drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, and Lando Norris seem to be on the hunt for this seat. If Perez hopes to maintain this seat, he must start impressing the team by closing the gap to Max Verstappen. Matching his pace will be very difficult, but the gap between the two in each race should be lower than it was at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Let’s see if Perez can improve his performance from here on. The developments of the other teams over the summer break would also give some idea of whether Perez can hold on to the 2nd position for the rest of the season.