After failing to get into Q3 for five consecutive Grand Prix weekends, Sergio Perez finally had something to smile about at the Hungaroring last weekend. He got into the final part of qualifying, although he would have loved to do much better than P9. However, Perez made a strong recovery drive during the race, which allowed him to finish P3 in the race. Now, Perez knows what he has to do, in order to stop the rumors of him leaving Red Bull once and for all.
Perez’s string of poor results led to rumors of him getting replaced arising. Red Bull chief Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner insisted that the Mexican was safe all along. Regardless, the return of Daniel Ricciardo made a huge chunk of the F1 community believe that things could go against Perez. The Guadalajara-born driver was always calm about keeping his place on the team, but the external pressure kept growing.
A few months ago, Ricciardo’s return to F1 mid-season could not have been fathomed. Now, he is back with AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s sister team. Plus, Marko is a figure who always keeps an eye on the drivers racing for the Faenza-based outfit. Perez’s performance in Hungary may have paused the rumors of his sacking temporarily, but he knows he has to be more consistent in order to put these speculations to bed, once and for all.
Sergio Perez knows he has to be more consistent
Perez was fairly pleased with his recovery driver at the Hungaroring last Sunday, as was Horner. The 49-year-old took to the team radio post-race to laud Perez on his podium finish in Hungary. Perez himself feels that his result was a strong statement, which was proof that he is headed in the right direction. Still, there are things he can always improve on.
“Of course this is a good result, but I have to get a lot more constant,” he said as reported by RaceExpress. “We have to perform at this level every week, but this race in Hungary was good for the championship.”
Perez finished P3 behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and race-winner Max Verstappen. Verstappen, his teammate, has been completely unstoppable this year. He has won nine races so far, and together, they both guided Red Bull to 12 consecutive Grand Prix victories, which is a monumental achievement.
Perez reflects on Red Bull’s monumental achievement
Red Bull created history at the Hungarian GP, by becoming the first-ever team to win 12 consecutive races in F1. Even though Verstappen has won most of these 12 races, Perez is proud to have played a big role in helping the team achieve this feat.
“It is unbelievable to contribute to this,” the 34-year-old added. “Twelve wins in a row for the team. Now I am really looking forward to Belgium to sharpen the record even more.”
The next round of the 2023 F1 season takes place at Spa-Francorchamps. After this race, we will enter the mid-season break, on the other side of which, the Dutch fanbase will be waiting to cheer hometown hero Max Verstappen on at Zandvoort.
