Former World Champion Nico Rosberg recently claimed that if Max Verstappen lost his focus even in one race, Sergio Perez would not be able to continue Red Bull’s winning streak. Following this statement, the former Mercedes driver urged Perez to stop thinking about defeating Verstappen and focus on improving himself instead.
Red Bull has won all 12 races this season so far, but the Guadalajara-born driver has only won two, with the other ten wins in the Dutchman’s column. More worryingly for Red Bull and Perez, he is yet to come close to matching Verstappen’s performances while driving the same car.
This has put Perez in a direct line of fire, as questions about his abilities as a Red Bull driver have taken wind. With so many doubts surrounding him, Rosberg advises Perez to forget about defeating Verstappen in the coming races and focus on his own performance.
Nico Rosberg wants Sergio Perez to focus on improving himself
Earlier in July, Rosberg told Marçà that Perez could be the one to halt Red Bull’s incredible run. He said Red Bull has only one driver they can rely on to win the races as the other one is always behind him, facing various difficulties. The German former F1 driver has since advised Perez to stop thinking about winning against Verstappen.
“He was very focused on ‘Hey I wanna beat Max, I want to be Champion.’ He’s always saying he wants to be champion in the winter, and it’s time to, I mean he’s doing it anyways, but just forget about that and race weekend by weekend. Come to the race and session by session, do a fantastic job. Prepare for it, as best you can, risk manage out there, and just do a fantastic job and rebuild like that.”
Of late, Checo Perez has shown a steady improvement in his driving, having made a lot fewer mistakes in the final two races leading up to the summer break. However, there are still some concerns regarding his performance. Perez finished 2nd in Belgium, but he did so over 20 seconds after Verstappen crossed the finish line in P1, after starting the race at P6. The Mexican’s poor string of results has also cost him financially, as he now faces monetary penalties from his team.
Perez set for salary reduction at Red Bull
Recent reports have revealed a special clause in Sergio Perez’s contract which could lead to Red Bull penalizing him for not keeping up with Verstappen. The clause states that if the 33-year-old was to be behind Verstappen by 125 points or more, the team could punish with salary cut in his $10,000,000 contract.
Dutch media sources say that Sergio Perez’ recent slump in race weekend performance could trigger a clause in his contract with Red Bull resulting in a cut to his salary.https://t.co/S5f9LSDipx
— F1i (@F1icom) August 5, 2023
After the Belgian GP, the difference between the two teammates is 125 points, which could potentially trigger the clause. Perez could now face a deduction in his $7 million annual salary, $3 million bonuses, or perhaps even both.
