Mexican F1 driver Sergio Perez started his third season with Red Bull in Bahrain last week. While many weren’t sure about his capabilities to tackle Max Verstappen’s challenge, Perez did it with ease and broke the stereotype. As the former Racing Point driver made it to his third year, Helmut Marko applauded his valiant efforts.
As per Sport.de, Soy Motor reported that Marko lauded Checo for not breaking down like many drivers on the team. Such as Pierre Gasly, who replaced the outgoing Daniel Ricciardo in 2019. And later on, Alex Albon replaced Gasly in the Austrian team. Citing it as a great achievement, he also said about the current Red Bull driver who doesn’t give up.
MEET THE 2023 F1 DRIVERS 👋
Sergio Perez
Drives for: @redbullracing
AKA: Checo, Mexican Minister of Defence
Checo is: a LEGEND! 💪#F1 @SChecoPerez pic.twitter.com/s2E5pJqP4Z— Formula 1 (@F1) March 2, 2023
Saying Max Verstappen has no weakness, the Red Bull taskmaster lauded Perez’s valiant effort. As he finished the 2022 season in P3, the Austrian feels he is a suited member to help Red Bull finish in P1 and P2 in the driver’s championship.
Perez joined the Milton-Keynes-based team in 2021 from Racing Point [currently Aston Martin]. The Mexican driver replaced a shaky Alex Albon on the team. From there on, the 33-year-old managed to keep close to Verstappen as compared to his other teammates in recent times.
Perez feels Charles Leclerc cost him Bahrain GP win
The Red Bull star driver finished the season opener in Bahrain in P2. While his Dutch teammate won the Bahrain GP, Perez feels he could have won the race. And for this, he blames Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc for not winning the race.
Leclerc was powerless to prevent Perez from snatching P2 #BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ahhtoN4w34
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 7, 2023
As per reports, Perez said losing out to Leclerc in the first turn was the turning point of the race. The Red Bull driver lost out to the Ferrari driver as the lights went out. From then on, the Mexican race driver chased the Monegasque until the SF-23 halted due to reliability issues.
Also Read: Former World Champion Claims Lando Norris and Max Verstappen Are Equally Good F1 Drivers
Perez wants to push for more in Red Bull
After playing the ultimate team game in Red Bull so far, the Mexican driver now wants to push for more. A driver who always put his team over himself for two years has recently taken a stance for himself.
The Mexican driver’s father opened up on it recently. He said the Red Bull ace told his father that he is not returning to Mexico until he wins a world title.
Admittedly, the Red Bull driver has looked more poised and determined to finish on top this year. It’ll be interesting to see how Sergio Perez takes up his challenges against Max Verstappen from here on.