“He was the best choice”- Karun Chandhok claims Red Bull made a terrific decision in hiring Sergio Perez; claims will fill Daniel Ricciardo absence.
Red Bull axed Alex Albon from the starting spot to hire Sergio Perez for the 2021 season. His incredible string of performances motivated Red Bull to hire him for better results this year.
Karun Chandhok has backed the decision made by the Milton Keynes based team and claims that he would be an ideal choice to give stability to them.
“Of all the drivers available, he was the best choice. Daniel Ricciardo’s loss has really become apparent at Red Bull in recent seasons. Both Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon could not compete against Max Verstappen, and Ricciardo could,” says Chandhok on Motorsport.com.
“Perez has shown that he now has the maturity he did not have at McLaren in 2013. He is now ready for a second chance with a top team, an opportunity few drivers get.”
“He has worked really hard to get rid of his pay driver image. That stigma haunted him for a long time, unjustly in my eyes.”
Trusts his ability to find points
Perez had to miss two races out of the 17 races scheduled in 2020, as the Mexican racer was diagnosed with COVID-19, yet he secured a P4 position on the table, and Chandhok is impressed by that.
“In the Pirelli era, his tire management is almost as good as that of Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen. He was also able to improve the qualifications in 2020, it seems,” Chandhok continued.
“The fact that he had to miss two races last year due to COVID-19 and still finished fourth in the championship, with one more dropout in Abu Dhabi… That says a lot about his ability to constantly scrape up many points.”
Chandhok further bolsters his argument by saying that Perez would not have the pressure to beat Max Verstappen, which would make his job easy at Red Bull.
“For Red Bull, Perez does not have to beat Verstappen. It is important for the team that he qualifies close behind and that he can be about five seconds behind in the races.”
“Then, they can use two cars to influence Mercedes’ strategy. If Perez can do that, he may have some years ahead of him at Red Bull.”
