Sergio Perez has had a difficult 2023 season as he finds himself a whopping 226 points behind Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen in the championship. As a result of Perez’s underperformance in comparison to the Dutchman, many have often criticized the Mexican and speculated about whether Red Bull may consider sacking him. Among all the critics, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has perhaps been the harshest. However, the 33-year-old’s performance at Austin this weekend also impressed the Austrian.
Marko praised Perez even though the Guadalajara-born driver underperformed Verstappen throughout the weekend. Perez finished fifth in the sprint before finishing fourth in the main race. In stark contrast, the 26-year-old won both the sprint and the main race.
Such has been the differences in performance between both Red Bull drivers for most of the 2023 season. This is because after matching Verstappen following the conclusion of the first four races with two wins apiece, Perez has fallen behind considerably since then.
Following Perez’s win in Baku, he has failed to win a single race. On the other hand, Verstappen has won 13 races since then. However, with Perez now showing signs of a resurgence following his decent performance in Austin, he did earn the praises of both Marko and team principal Christian Horner.
Marko believes Perez’s “racing speed was impeccable“
In one of his interviews after the United States Grand Prix, Helmut Marko explained how Sergio Perez had a decent weekend in Austin. The 80-year-old believes that the Mexican achieved the “maximum” by finishing fourth after starting ninth on the grid.
🗣️ | 🇺🇸 Helmut Marko on Checo’s performance over the weekend
“From 9th on the grid, he achieved the maximum. On the medium he drove the same lap times as Max.”
“His racing speed was impeccable, but overtaking is incredibly difficult here. His performance was satisfactory, a… pic.twitter.com/HnnJJynz3a
— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) October 23, 2023
After stating the same, Marko added (as quoted by RBR News), “On the medium, he (Perez) drove the same lap times as Max. His racing speed was impeccable, but overtaking is incredibly difficult here. His performance was satisfactory. A clear upward trend“. Similarly to Marko, Christian Horner was also happy with Perez’s performance.
Christian Horner happy to see Sergio Perez make “some progress“
While speaking to Viaplay after the race in Austin, Christian Horner explained how he was happy to see Sergio Perez make “some progress” this past weekend. As quoted by gpblog.com, the Briton said, “Good to see Checo making some progress as well. He’s quick at times, and he had a strong pace today, so good race from him“.
Coming into the United States GP weekend, Horner had explained how Perez was working harder than ever to improve his performances. The same seems to have paid off for the Mexican as he demonstrated a consistent performance in Austin this past weekend.
Perez will now hope to take the same kind of form to his home race, which takes place later this week. The Mexican Grand Prix weekend will take place from October 27 to 29 and it will feature the traditional format.
