“Even if It’s God”: Sergio Perez Warned of Nightmare Future as Superior Max Verstappen is No Excuse for Slacking Off

Max Verstappen has put on a show of complete dominance for the last two years with Red Bull. 10 races into the season, he has already racked up so many points that he’d be leading the Constructor’s championship by his own. This speaks volumes about how badly his teammate Sergio Perez has underperformed, compared to him. However, Former Toro Rosso driver Jamie Alguersuari believes that Verstappen’s dominance cannot be used by Perez as an excuse to underperform.

After having a satisfactory start to the 2023 season, Perez’s performance started dropping off at a scary rate. Four races into the season, he was tied with Verstappen in terms of race wins. However, ever since then, Verstappen has been on a six-race winning streak, with Perez nowhere to be found.

Verstappen has managed to claim pole position in each of the last five races. On the contrary, Perez has failed to reach Q3 in every single of those races, in the same car as that of Verstappen. The Mexican has gone from being a championship contender at the start of the season to somehow managing to hold on to P2 in the standings.

Sergio Perez needs to improve his unacceptable performances

Alguersuari appeared on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast where he spoke about how Verstappen’s performance should not be used as an excuse to justify Perez’s incompetence. The Former Toro Rosso driver explained that Perez needs to close the gap between him and Verstappen really quickly.

🗣️ | Sergio Perez about the speculation on his Red Bull seat

“In F1 in 13 years I’ve seen it all, I am not worried about any of that, I’m mainly focused about getting my season back on track and making sure I keep enjoying this.” #F1 pic.twitter.com/DJWLDILDP4

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 9, 2023

Alguersuari said, “You cannot really accept to be half a second off your teammate. Even if it’s god coming to the best winning car.” He explained further that the first rival of any driver is their own teammate.

Therefore, if said teammate is winning race after race, the bare minimum that is expected from the driver is to finish on the podium regularly. It is unacceptable that Perez is more than half a second slower than his teammate in the same car.

📰: Sergio Perez aims for second place in Drivers’ Standings after tough races. Despite winning two early races, Max Verstappen’s lead created a massive 99-point gap. Perez now focuses on maintaining the second spot and eyes success in the Hungarian GP. Close battle with Fernando… pic.twitter.com/oH2yLyJHYq

— F1 Naija 🇳🇬 (@f1_naija) July 18, 2023

Alguersuari made it clear that Red Bull have every right to sack Perez if he keeps on performing like this. He said, “There are many drivers on the grid, many many drivers, that could be definitely closer to Max.”

Red Bull are also to be blamed for Perez’s poor performances

Not everyone believes that the poor results are completely Perez’s fault. Former Chief of Strategy of Aston Martin, Bernie Collins claimed that Red Bull also have had a part to play in the poor showing by Perez.

The CRAZIEST STATS about the British GP: part 3 🇬🇧🧵

With his P16 in qualifying, Perez has missed the last 5 Q3s in a row.

This is the worst result for a Red Bull driver since Coulthard in 2007. pic.twitter.com/Azp4SPF5tu

— PolMat16Racing (@PolMat16Racing) July 15, 2023

Collins claimed that during the British GP, Red Bull did not give Perez the best chance of making it out of Q1. This is because the team sent him out at the very beginning and he was the first driver to set a time. Usually, the best-case scenario for a driver during qualifying is if he is last to set a time.

There have been strong rumors about Red Bull looking to replace Perez with Lando Norris. Even though the team has kept on saying that Perez’s seat is not in danger, it is to be seen how long Red Bull decides to put up with the underperforming 33-year-old driver.