Throughout his F1 career, Max Verstappen has developed a reputation for convincingly beating his teammates, whoever they may be. The Dutchman doesn’t leave an inch for his teammates and the likes of Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Sergio Perez have found it very difficult to live up to his high benchmark.
However, Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas feels that Perez was perhaps in the best position to match Verstappen despite the kind of struggles he faced later in his stint at the Milton Keynes outfit.
Nicholas showered praise on the Mexican’s years of experience in F1 — which was a huge strength of his — with Sauber, McLaren, and then Force India (now Aston Martin). The #11 driver particularly blossomed at Force India, bolstering their performances in the midfield via his race management brilliance.
His tire management ability and brilliant race pace were a few of the several reasons why Red Bull signed him up in 2021. On top of that, Nicholas also highlighted why Perez was a different driver than the likes of Albon and Gasly, who had faltered against Verstappen’s ruthlessness.
“Checo’s vast experience, he was probably the best person to probably keep up with Max,” Nicholas said on the High-Performance podcast. Nicholas also added that the way Verstappen used to mentally beat his teammates destroyed their confidence and ambition to match his level. But Perez was quite “resilient” to fall prey to that.
“In the way that Max got into other people’s heads, I didn’t think it would affect Checo,” the Red Bull mechanic added.
Apparently, the reason for Perez’s downfall at Red Bull was something else. Yes, he did start to struggle badly with the car that suited Verstappen, and the Mexican’s qualifying results plummeted badly as a result.
Verstappen and Perez finish the season with the biggest points gap between team-mates pic.twitter.com/ylLNPmZqop
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) December 8, 2024
However, Nicholas believes there was another factor that could’ve affected Perez’s psyche besides Verstappen’s relentless consistency.
Perez was carrying the weight of his country’s expectations
Coming from Mexico, Perez had a massive following in his country. Nicholas highlighted how the six-time Grand Prix winner got a huge celebrity-like reception whenever they visited Mexico City for the race weekend in late October.
So, while he was quite “resilient” on track, the weight of expectation from the Mexican people may have put him under some pressure. “Checo is like God in Mexico. His billboards are everywhere, it must be such a huge pressure for him,” Nicholas added.
One would think that a seasoned campaigner like Perez would easily handle such attention from fans and go about his business as usual.
But when any individual sees the raucous support the Guadalajara-born driver gets at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, it is impossible to avoid feeling nervous. So, imagine how Perez would have been handling his nerves and trying to live up to the crowd’s expectations in Mexico.
As things stand, the 35-year-old is not on this year’s F1 grid owing to his Red Bull exit. However, the Mexican fans will hope that their beloved driver can make a comeback to the sport in 2026 with rumors linking him to the Cadillac F1 seat.
