The title in the new Formula 1 season will probably only go to Red Bull Racing again. Real danger threatens double world champion Max Verstappen only from his own teammate, who is making the best start of his career. Is Sergio Pérez becoming a Verstappen fright?
Sergio Pérez has mastered light trash talk, tickling the competition. After his success in Azerbaijan, he explained that Max Verstappen had “pushed”. “But I had him under control,” the Mexican added. No formula boredom. In the motorsport premier class, everything is prepared for an internal team duel that hasn’t happened since the Hamilton-Rosberg clash in the middle of the last decade.
It is no exaggeration to write: Sergio Pérez had to wait 33 years to mature into the best Pérez in Formula 1 history. Now that he’s at what is currently his career best, he wants more. More means: the World Cup. The conditions are not that bad. “The performance curve is still going up. He’s a rested, savvy guy with the mistaken belief that he can throw everything in to become world champion,” analyzes “ntv.de” reporter Felix Görner. “The Mexican temperament also plays a role, he’s an indomitable person who doesn’t like to submit. That also means: He will try everything to beat Verstappen.”
Red Bull is in a league of its own
The Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team is currently worlds ahead of the competition. Ferrari hasn’t managed to live up to the Tifosi’s traditionally high expectations this year either, Mercedes hasn’t closed the big gap from last year and Aston Martin is just happy to have made a huge leap to the top of the midfield. After the first four race weekends, the quote from the beginning of the season is bleak for the competition: the “bulls” are chasing everyone away again.
Nevertheless, the situation offers a lot of potential for conflict. Because defending champion Verstappen does not drive against a possible World Cup triple without resistance. Massive adversity in the World Cup fight threatens the ambitious Dutchman of all people from his teammate. After his excellent start to the new season with two Grand Prix victories, Pérez is more self-confident than ever and is already saying the World Championship motto: “Of course I want to win the title – but Max wants that too.” It will probably be the motto of the rest of the season.
After just the first four races he has collected as many victories (2) as in the whole of last season. The Mexican was the first to see the checkered flag in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. Last weekend in Baku, Pérez managed the double pack with GP and sprint victory. The other two Grands Prix were also Bulls’ prey: Verstappen won in Bahrain and Australia. So the garage neighbors are almost at eye level at the top. Only six points separate leader Verstappen (93) from his challenger (87). There was even praise from Verstappen. “Checo has been showing really strong performances so far, he feels good and confident in the car,” said the 25-year-old. But the calm is deceptive.
The racing team deliberately does not issue any stable orders and emphasizes that both drivers have equal rights. “We let them drive,” said team advisor Helmut Marko energetically. And so far, those responsible for the team have also been enjoying the RB demonstration of power by their pilots. Instead of a stable order, the motto is: free rides for everyone! At least as long as the distance between the team and the competition is so clear.
The big Formula 1 question is: Can Pérez really threaten the dominator Verstappen over long distances and even dethrone him? Individual pinpricks like last year are not enough, so far the Mexican has lacked consistency over an entire season.
We see “the best Pérez ever”
For long-time F1 reporter Felix Görner, the chances for the challenger this year are “better than ever”. “The headline is up-to-date: The water carrier likes champagne. One thing is certain: Pérez also dares to win the World Cup against Verstappen. At 33, ‘Checo’ Pérez currently has the greatest self-confidence and the best car of his career. He also has himself developed into the best Pérez of all time over the past few years. You can see that in the best start to the season of his career,” explains Görner.
What speaks in favor of Pérez is its good performance on narrow city routes like in Baku. “There are eight city courses in 23 races this season: and on these courses, Pérez has a better record against Verstappen. You can see that in Baku,” said Görner. Good news for Pérez: The next race in Miami is also a narrower circuit around a stadium and after a stopover in Emilia-Romagna the street circuit follows: Monaco. There Pérez took his first Grand Prix victory in 2022. “He could use the momentum, turn things around on his own at the next street circuit and take the lead in the world championship. That would be a new situation for Verstappen that he has to deal with,” says the “ntv.de” expert.
Not forgotten is the fact that at the end of last season Verstappen refused his teammate to help him in the fight for the runner-up title with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, Pérez ultimately finished third in the overall standings. That brought ego accusations to the two-time world champion. The two are not friends. And the longer the fight for the world championship goes on, the gap stays small or even decreases further, the more pressure there is on the champion, who also likes to get out of his skin. Verstappen was already noticed in Azerbaijan with all sorts of bluster against competitors and his own team strategy.
Memories of old Vettel feud
“Pérez will try to keep the pressure up, to drive him into mistakes and senseless aggression. Verstappen tends to be a bad loser and not only verbally lash out against the team, but also against colleagues,” says Görner: “It saps energy There could be a chance for Pérez to drive Verstappen into his own mistakes mentally and on the track.”
Tough duels with crashes in their own ranks would not be new for Red Bull. Even in the era of Sebastian Vettel, the pilots fought heated battles on the asphalt. Unforgotten are the clashes between Vettel and the Australian Mark Webber. The low point: Both shot each other in the 2010 race in Istanbul and out of the Grand Prix. Even then, the maxim applied at RB: The faster one is allowed to drive.
Görner also sees an increased risk of accidents in the coming races of this year. “Crashes cannot be ruled out. That’s the next level. The longer the season is at eye level, the more the risk of a crash increases. That can happen again and again with tight starts and on street circuits. Especially when Verstappen is behind Pérez.” Nevertheless, RB is and will remain a Verstappen team until at least 2028, as long as its contract runs. “But that doesn’t mean that you will carry him to the 3rd title on the litter,” believes Görner.
For Pérez it is now important to “create momentum from this very good start. The next three races with two street circuits in particular could lead to a turning point. He can only do that if he has absolute focus on beating Verstappen.” In any case, it won’t fail because of the trash talk. Otherwise he gets help from his father Antonio Pérez, who made it clear two weeks ago in the Mexican edition of “Marca” that his son is not just a wingman at Red Bull. “That’s a lie, so that’s clear!”
Emmanuel Schneider