Sergio Perez will require a ‘reset over the summer break’ to return resurgent for the second half of the 2022 F1 season, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
The Mexican’s sophomore campaign with Red Bull started off strong with a pole in Jeddah and four podium finishes, including his momentous win in Monaco in the first seven rounds. His win in the Principality was followed by the Austrian team extending his contract until the end of 2024.
In the the last six races of the 2022 season, Sergio Perez has had two podiums and two DNFs. The 32-year-old was also jostled off the podium in France and Hungary just before the start of the summer break.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner defended Sergio Perez’s performance at the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP in an interview with Sky F1, where he said:
“Checo [Perez] what fantastic. He was on a different strategy. Hey let Max [Verstappen] immediately get onto the back of Charles [Leclerc] to make that pass.”
The 48-year-old went on to say:
“Look at Checo’s race in the second half today. Without that VSC (Virtual Safety Car), he’d have actually been challenging for the podium. He was a second a lap quicker in the closing stages than both George [Russell] and Carlos [Sainz] and he was coming very, very quickly. So I think a reset over the summer break, just to understand what’s not going quite right for him the last couple of races, and he will come back stronger from Spa onwards.”
Sergio Perez is the perfect teammate for Max Verstappen, feels Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko
Sergio Perez is the perfect teammate for Max Verstappen at Red Bull, according to Dr. Helmut Marko.
The veteran Austrian driver is an advisor to the Red Bull team and is also the person helming its junior program with drivers in lower formulas.
Marko was the one who saw the rise of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull before the eventual arrival of a teenage Max Verstappen. The prodigy’s talents were such that other drivers found it difficult to either coexist with the Dutchman or live up to his ever-growing standards.
Ricciardo made way for Pierre Gasly in 2019, who stepped aside for Alex Albon six months into his tenure. Albon, too, was unable to live up to expectations during his 18 months with the team. That is when Marko and Red Bull chose to change their approach by entering the driver market as opposed to promotion from within.
In an interview with the Red Bull Bulletin, the 79-year-old looked back on the decision to sign ‘Checo’ Perez after the Mexican was left without a drive at Racing Point (now Aston Martin F1) at the end of 2020. He says:
“Max [Verstappen] can drive any car fast. That’s why having Sergio Pérez as his teammate is perfect. Checo doesn’t try to fight but does everything he can, and that can lead to victory as it did in Baku last season. The two work very well together.”
So read
Story continues below
The truth behind Marko’s assessment can be easily deduced from the stats. Red Bull has more wins, podium places, and overall points with the current Max Verstappen-Sergio Perez partnership than it ever did with either Ricciardo, Gasly or Albon.
With Perez, Red Bull has finally managed to get a driver who can perform close to Verstappen’s level without crumbling under the pressure that comes with the territory.
