While Max Verstappen has already won the Championship, Sergio Perez finds himself fighting Lewis Hamilton for 2nd place. However, Perez thinks that he is not alone in this battle. He is confident that his teammate, Max Verstappen will help the Mexican driver if necessary to make sure that Red Bull is able to get their first 1-2 finish in the WDC.
Before the Brazilian Grand Prix, Sergio Perez spoke to the media.
“If the situation arises, I am sure Max will help me,” he told the media in Brazil. We just haven’t thought about it yet. It is also important to have the support of the team. We are in this together, and it’s also nice to feel support from the fans.”
Max Verstappen taking the win in Brazil F1 Sprint!🔥
Lando Norris comes home in P2, Sergio Perez P3…👏🏽
With Lewis Hamilton only finishing P7, Checo increases his lead over LH to 24 points…💙
Great drive by Yuki Tsunoda, P6!#F1Sprint #F1 #BrazilGP
pic.twitter.com/xXXqYnP4u1— Opinionated Fan (@OpinionatedSF19) November 4, 2023
Over the last few races, Lewis Hamilton has closed the gap to Sergio Perez. The gap now stands at only 24 points after the Sprint Race in Brazil. This gap is expected to come down after the race on Sunday as Sergio will only be starting in the 9th position.
There have been a lot of rumors surrounding Sergio Perez and Red Bull. Since he has not been able to keep up with the pace of Max Verstappen, there is speculation that he could be replaced in the team. However, both Helmut Marko and Christian Horner have confirmed that Perez will continue to drive for Red Bull until the end of the 2024 season.
It was earlier reported that an ultimatum was given to Sergio Perez. It stated that if he does not finish 2nd in the WDC, he will be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo who drives for AlphatTauri at the moment. However, it is likely that these are nothing more than rumors.
When Max Verstappen refused team orders to help amazing Verstappen
This is not the first time Sergio Perez has had to fight for 2nd place in the WDC. Last year, Sergio Perez was trying to catch up with Charles Leclerc who was in 2nd place. During the Brazilian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was asked to let Sergio Perez pass before the end of the race. However, Max refused to do so. He said that he had spoken about this to the team and they knew why he didn’t give the position to Checo.
It is speculated that during qualifying for the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, Sergio Perez crashed his Red Bull intentionally during Q3. This crash made sure that he would start 1 position ahead of Max Verstappen. The next day, during the race, Perez was able to beat both the Ferraris to win the Monaco Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez: “Lewis’ten daha fazla puan almam tabii ki önemli ancak daha önemlisi momentum’u devam ettirmek. Umuyorum yarın da iyi bir sonuç alırız.” pic.twitter.com/qLWgNKDJjx
— Sarı Bayrak (@saribayrak) November 4, 2023
According to the reports, Max refused to give the position to Sergio during the Brazilian Grand Prix for the above reason. Perez failed to take 2nd position from Charles Leclerc last season. However, he is hopeful that he will be able to finish 2nd this season. He does have the upper hand at the moment. However, Mercedes has been quick in the last few races.
IT si difficult to see how Max will be able to help Perez as he builds a huge gap to his teammates in every race. It is also likely that the Dutch driver will be leading the Brazilian Grand Prix. If Max is ordered to give the position to Sergio, he may have to give up a race win and will have to slow down a lot. But it is unlikely that Max will give up a race win to help Sergio Perez.