Sergio Perez is among the most respected F1 drivers of this era. However, he is yet to win a championship and only got his first win success nine years after his debut.
His F1 career has been full of hard times. But now, with Red Bull, he is getting his best results. However, with Max Verstappen in the same car, the title victory is still a far cry for him.
But it could have been much easier for him if, in the last 15 years, teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull wouldn’t have raced. Then Perez would have been the most successful driver and had a fulfilled career.
Sergio Perez wins 3 titles in Formula 1.5 history
The Mexican race driver had an impressive stint with Force India (later turned into Racing Point and now Aston Martin). With them, he amassed so many points that if Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari hadn’t existed, he would have won three championships.
Followed by Lando Norris, who would have won two championships in his brief F1 career, which is still on the rise. The same number of championships would have been with Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and his former deputy at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas.
In the last 15 years, only these three teams have won the championships (McLaren only won drivers’ title in 2008). So, easily it was their era, and it would have been an entirely different sport if these three weren’t there.
This is why Sergio Perez is the greatest of all time pic.twitter.com/kzJJhjRgfq
— Aaron (@AaronMolloy6) December 14, 2022
Heading towards 2023- threat by Daniel Ricciardo?
In 2023, Perez will enter a season with a security of a drive till 2024. He surely would enter the season with a positive mind and thinking of challenging for the title.
However, it wouldn’t be easy. Verstappen obviously would be the de-facto main driver for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit, limiting Perez’s scope to go for the title.
But who knows? Perez wouldn’t get a chance to have the best car on the grid ever again. So, he could go rogue and be a little rebellious to assert his claim on the title.
But that could come at a cost. A team like Red Bull wouldn’t want the stability in the lineup jeopardized. Thus, Perez could be axed if a choice had to be made between him and Verstappen, but at the hefty cost of paying off the remaining year in his contract.
The media have only amplified this risk after Daniel Ricciardo’s return to Red Bull as the third driver. But if Perez wins the title, the gamble would be worth taking as Nico Rosberg did in 2016.
Also read: Nico Rosberg makes judgement of final few races of Sebastian Vettel
