Sergio Perez does not seem to be able to catch a break. This season, he has faced a lot of criticism due to his lack of performance. He has not been able to keep up with the pace of his teammate, Max Verstappen this season. After Perez’s DNF in his hometown of Mexico City, Helmut Marko has made his comments on Perez’s future.
“How many times do I have to repeat this?” Helmut Marko started. “Checo has a contract for 2024 and that will happen. He had a super weekend until the first lap of the race and I am convinced that he would have been on the podium.”
For a long time, Daniel Ricciardo has been rumored to replace Sergio Perez after this season. Helmut Marko has been all over the place on the matter. While he states that Checo has a contract until the end of the 2024 season, Helmut has also criticized the Mexican driver a lot in the media.
Marko on Checo’s contract for 2024:
“How many times do I have to repeat this? Checo has a contract for 2024 and that will happen. He had a super weekend until the first lap of the race and I am convinced that he would have been on the podium.”
[@SkySportF1] #F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/s99SwdkC6j
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) October 29, 2023
Sergio Perez qualified P5 behind Daniel Ricciardo in the AlphaTauri. Although he qualified behind Ricciardo, it was still a decent position for him to start from as Max Verstappen qualified just 2 positions ahead.
Although Perez was hoping for a podium finish in the race, he was forced to retire after a first-lap incident with Charles Leclerc. This accident even led to a brawl in the stands. Despite Perez’s efforts, he was forced to retire from the race due to excessive damage to his sidepods.
Sergio Perez takes the blame for awry lap 1 incident at Mexico GP
While Perez was hoping for a strong start to take another podium at the Mexican GP, he perhaps became a bit too overambitious. After his race was over, he took the blame for the crash that saw him out of the race.
As the race started, Sergio Perez got a very good start that saw him fight Charles Leclerc for the lead of the race. While Max Verstappen took the inside and Sergio Perez was on the outside, Charles was sandwiched between the 2 cars. He was eventually forced onto the side of Sergio Perez.
“I took a risk that I paid a high price for”
Sergio Perez gives his take on that Turn 1 collision đź’Ą#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/2NWC4qwBDn
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 29, 2023
There is no doubt that there is a race pace in that Red Bull. If Perez had been a bit more patient, he would have been able to challenge the Ferraris and Hamilton for a podium finish. Instead, he retired and gave Lewis Hamilton a huge advantage in his fight for P2 in the WDC.
Lewis Hamilton is currently only 20 points behind Sergio Perez. If Hamilton was not disqualified from the US GP, he would have been only 1 point behind the Mexican driver. This would have put Perez in a difficult position with the team.
Do you think Lewis Hamilton can take P2 from Sergio Perez? Post your answers in the comment section below.