Sergio Perez Living Up to His “Standards” as Helmut Marko Reflects on the Mexican’s Gap to Max Verstappen

Sergio Perez will start the 2024 Bahrain GP from fifth place on the grid, which doesn’t sound too great considering the fact that Max Verstappen, his teammate got the pole position. Team chief Helmut Marko, however, thinks Perez is doing a good job by his standards and is satisfying the higher-ups at Red Bull.

Marko’s comments came ahead of the qualifying in Bahrain, so it is possible that his mind changed after the session. But overall, Perez does not look as uncomfortable driving the Red Bull as he did in 2023 when Max Verstappen dominated him.

According to AMuS (as quoted by RBR Daily), Marko said, “He’s [Checo] only two tenths away from Max and even closer in the long run. That’s good for his standards. If he can maintain that, we’ll be satisfied.” 

Perez would have been happy to hear that going into qualifying. However, despite showing potential, he made a mistake on his final Q3 run. This mistake potentially cost him a shot at the front row, where Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will now start alongside his teammate.

Perez, meanwhile, will be looking to utilize Red Bull’s race pace to his advantage, because for the team, a 1-2 will be the expectation heading into the race.

Sergio Perez looking to make places

It’s too early to say whether Perez’s qualifying woes from 2023 are continuing this season too. But once again, the Mexican driver will have to make up places to finish in the top 3. Last year, no team was close to Red Bull for the majority of the season, so Perez was able to breeze past most rivals on the track.

The same is unlikely for 2024. The entire field looks much closer, and even though Verstappen was two-tenths ahead of Leclerc, the rest of the drivers were not too far off each other. At the start in Bahrain, Perez will have to get the better of Carlos Sainz and George Russell, who start P4 and P3 respectively. The Guadalajara-born driver is under pressure to deliver yet again.

However, he will be happy to know that Marko has confidence in him, as evident by his comments leading up to qualifying. Perez is in the final year of his contract and has to stand out if he is to continue with Red Bull Racing.