Max Verstappen is taking his level of domination to new heights in the 2023 F1 season. Out of nine races so far, he has won seven outings, driving the RB19 which is the strongest car on the grid. His teammate Sergio Perez meanwhile, hasn’t lived up to the expectations yet again, and a million-dollar cheque to Christian Horner shows why the Mexican driver is lagging behind.
Perez has won two races so far this season, but those feel like an eternity ago. This is especially because of Perez’s poor performances over the last few races. In fact, he hasn’t made it to Q3 in four consecutive outings now, which has Christian Horner extremely worried. However, there are other factors too, that make Max Verstappen the clear number one driver at Red Bull.
Perez hasn’t been particularly comfortable behind the wheel and has crashed on a few occasions this year, which has added to Red Bull’s damage bill. In fact, his damage bill is significantly higher than Verstappen’s which could be a reason behind the team’s frustration with the 33-year-old.
Sergio Perez forwards a $1,000,000 cheque to Red Bull
According to a post on Reddit that shows how much teams have had to pay for damages to their cars in the 2023 season, Perez’s crash in Monaco has cost Red Bull a lot of money. Monaco is where the Guadalajara-born driver’s downfall this season began when he crashed out in Q1 and started the race from P20.
According to the ‘World’s Destructors Championship’ data, Perez’s shunt in Monaco cost Red Bull $1,082,000. There are other drivers who have added more to their respective teams’ damage bills, but Red Bull won’t be concerned about them. Admittedly, it was Perez’s only crash of the season. But considering the gap to Verstappen, they will be worried looking at the data.
Verstappen has been incredibly consistent throughout the season, having just had some minor scrapes here and there. Verstappen has cost his team just $95,000 till now, and is 19th in the list, just ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou, who hasn’t added any financial burden to his team so far.
Max Verstappen coasting towards another win; Perez fights off another slump
Perez joined Red Bull in 2021, and since then, has failed to match Verstappen in any way. Both seasons he spent at Red Bull saw Verstappen emerge victorious in the drivers’ championship but Perez was nowhere close and that trend will likely continue this time about too.
Verstappen is the runaway leader at the top of the standings, with 229 points to his name after just nine races. Perez is in P2, but at just 148 points and could be in danger of losing his spot to Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, or the Ferrari drivers as the season progresses.
On the other hand, it is highly unlikely that any driver will catch up with Verstappen. Although it is not a mathematical certainty as of yet, he is the hot favorite to clinch his third world championship with multiple races to spare.
