Former F1 driver David Coulthard claims Red Bull’s Sergio Perez needs to make some major improvements in order to prove his place on the team alongside Max Verstappen.
During the 2022 season, Verstappen broke the record of the number of race wins in a season with fifteen and won the driver’s championship, whereas, Perez came third in the championship and had two race wins.
In an interview with the BBC, Coulthard evaluated Perez’s performance against two-time champion Verstappen. Hey explained:
“For Checo to look at how many victories Max had and how many he had, it’s not like he is just having to polish a few corners. This is a major rewrite, a software update.
“If you use the same ingredients in the cake you will get the the same cake. You need to change it if you want something different.
“He has access to the data of the World Champion. He can see where he’s quicker, where he’s slower. Checo will be quicker in some areas. It’s just Max is putting it all together more often than not.
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The former driver continued:
“All the knowledge is there for Checo to lift his performance. If he does then the World Championship is there for him to put his hand on.
“If he doesn’t, then he will be another driver, like myself, that won a few Grands Prix.”
Another aspect for Perez to look out for is Daniel Ricciardo joining the team as a reserve driver. The Australian driver has welcomed a year out of a permanent seat but has also expressed an interest in coming back to the grid for the 2024 season. Questions have been raised about the future of Perez’s seat on the team, if Ricciardo can prove himself in the Red Bull. Coulthard related to this situation, he said:
“Checo wants to see that there is a real substitute driver there.
“Having been in a similar situation to Sergio where I was up against Mika [Hakkinen] and Kimi [Raikkonen, at McLaren]you just have to leave no stone unturned.
“You do physical training but the only way he can improve his qualifying speed is in the car or in the simulator.
“In nine years at McLaren, I did every test and never missed a race, even when I felt terrible, even when I felt like I was going to be sick after testing, because I knew the minute I let the test driver get in the car it became an opportunity to show how good he was.
“If I don’t let him get in the car he can talk all day long. You have to defend your territory.”
