Max Verstappen did come under some fire from fans after the 2022 F1 Abu Dhabi GP as his teammate Sergio Perez was unable to secure P2 in the World Drivers’ Championship. The Dutchman, according to a few enraged fans and even according to a few F1 pundits, could have done more to help Sergio Perez secure second place in the championship.
Sergio Perez was quite distressed at losing out on the opportunity to finish P2 in the championship. He did not really place the blame on Max Verstappen in any way and neither did the team. Having said that, did Max Verstappen really cost Sergio Perez the runner-up position in the championship? Let’s take a look.
What if Max Verstappen let Sergio Perez pass in Brazil?
The first point raised against Max was what happened at the 2022 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix. In Sao Paulo, Verstappen defied the team orders that were given to him when he was asked to let Sergio Perez through. The Red Bull driver was not a willing participant in the same and the outrage in the press was quite visible.
A big deal was made out of Max Verstappen not ceding the position to his teammate, who was battling with Charles Leclerc for P2 in the championship.
True colors of @Max33Verstappen and @Charles_Leclerc showed today in Brazil @F1 . Very selfish, hard to be those guys teammates next year.. those radio messages told ALOT @F1Barstool tell me what you thinkTrue colors of @Max33Verstappen and @Charles_Leclerc showed today in Brazil @F1 . Very selfish, hard to be those guys teammates next year.. those radio messages told ALOT @F1Barstool tell me what you think
In hindsight, even if Verstappen had given up his position to Perez, the Mexican would have gained two more points on his original tally. Perez lost P2 in the championship by 3 points, and even by gaining two points in Brazil, he would still have lost out to Leclerc in the championship for second place.
What if Max Verstappen held up Charles Leclerc as Sergio Perez did to Lewis Hamilton last season
There were suggestions made by a few F1 pundits that there was a possibility of Max doing the same thing as Perez did at the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP against Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen could have held Leclerc up significantly in the third sector and given Perez an opportunity to attack the Ferrari driver.
This possibility was brought up by a member of the media to Verstappen, to which the Red Bull driver replied that interference of that kind would not have been a good thing. He said:
“You also don’t want to end up… of course, you can possibly block but is that fair racing? I think not the nicest way going out of the season, like that.”
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To add to this explanation, there is another reason why Verstappen trying to block Leclerc was a completely different situation to what Perez was in last season. Last season, Perez was not in a race-winning position in any which way, and this season, Max Verstappen was on the verge of winning the race. Even if Perez lost his position to Hamilton by defending in that manner, it wouldn’t have mattered much as he was on an alternate strategy anyway.
Verstappen was on the same strategy as Leclerc, and playing the blocking game would have meant risking a race win at that stage. It’s hard to think that Red Bull or Verstappen would have been fine with risking a race win for a P2 in the championship. The stakes were completely different when you compare what Sergio Perez did to what many expected from Max Verstappen.
Shouldn’t Sergio Perez have been quick enough to secure it already?
At the end of the day, a crucial question that needs to be addressed by both the Mexican and Red Bull as well is why Perez found himself in this situation. Over the course of the season, Red Bull had been the better car. To add to this, Leclerc had been plagued with far too many reliability issues and strategic debacles. Despite all of that, Leclerc was still level on points with the Mexican heading into the final race of the season.
| Antonio Perez, pai de Perez:
“ Sergio nunca precisou de nada de ninguém. Hoje Max já sente o sopro do ‘Checo’ no capacete, pelo que está demonstrando. Ele nunca teve um companheiro de equipe semelhante. ‘Checo’ ganha as corridas que o Max não consegue, as realmente difíceis”
| Antônio Perez, pai de Perez:” Sergio nunca precisou de nada de ninguém. Hoje Max já sente o sopro do ‘Checo’ no capacete, pelo que está demonstrando. Ele nunca teve um companheiro de equipe semelhante. ‘Checo’ ganha as corridas que o Max não consegue, as realmente difíceis”
It is a fatal statistic that Sergio Perez scored 11 podiums in the entire season while his teammate, Max Verstappen, was able to score 15 wins. When you look at these numbers, it does show that Perez himself was not up to the mark as a driver. While Max Verstappen could probably help a bit in Brazil, Perez should never have found himself in a situation where he had still not secured P2 in the championship.
If Sergio Perez looks back at the season, the Mexican should realize that the reason behind him losing P2 in the championship was not his teammate Max Verstappen or his team Red Bull, but it was Perez himself. He wasn’t consistent enough, he wasn’t quick enough, and certainly didn’t make the most of the car under him.
The 2022 F1 season has been a step up for Perez, and let’s hope that the Mexican makes another significant step up in the 2023 F1 season.
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