The current story at Red Bull has been one of two extremes. On one hand, Max Verstappen is snatching pole positions and race wins on the regular. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez is struggling to put in consistent performances regularly. However, despite his recent woes, he is looking forward to the day Verstappen doesn’t stand on the podium. Instead, he wants fellow Spanish-speaking F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz to accompany him in the top three.
Perez spoke about his Spanish-speaking colleagues in an interview during Red Bull Madrid Showrun. The Mexican driver spoke about how Spain has two drivers from their country competing at the topmost level of racing. Therefore, according to the Red Bull driver, Spain should be valued more in terms of motorsports.
💥 Checo Pérez: “Creo que se debería disfrutar más de Fernando Alonso y Carlos Sainz”.
👉 “Tanto Carlos Sainz como Fernando son dos pilotazos, no veo la razón de compararlos, al contrario”.
👉 “Están pasando por una situación única, un momento que quizá no se vuelva a repetir… pic.twitter.com/JGkP9UuCB5
— Fórmula Directa (@FormulaDirecta) July 15, 2023
According to Perez, it is very difficult to have even one F1 driver from a country, and Spain has two. And with two Spaniards and one Mexican on the grid, they have a chance to create history by becoming the first all Spanish-speaking podium in the sport’s history.
Sergio Perez speaks in support of his Spanish colleagues
During the interview, while talking about Sainz and Alonso, Perez gave his opinion on sharing the podium with the beforementioned drivers The interviewer noted that Perez had already managed to get a 1-2-3 with them during the Spanish GP qualifying session. Therefore, technically, it shouldn’t be too difficult a task to convert that into a 1-2-3 in the race.
Perez replied that he would absolutely love to share a podium with them. As per La Opinion, he said, “I would love for us to get it and for us to be able to speak in Spanish.“
🚨 Fernando Alonso iguala la racha de 10 apariciones consecutivas en Q3 que logró en 2014 (Alemania – Abu Dabi).
🌶 Carlos Sainz acumula ya 33 apariciones consecutivas en Q3 (desde Abu Dabi 2021).
🇪🇸 Ambos son los únicos que han participado en todas las Q3 de esta temporada.… pic.twitter.com/2JNVohIKH6
— Fórmula Directa (@FormulaDirecta) July 8, 2023
However, realistically speaking, it won’t be easy for F1 to see an all native Spanish-speaking podium. This is because of Verstappen and his incredible form. He has finished P2 or higher in all 10 races so far this season. And as for Perez, the Mexican driver has been struggling to find his form as of late.
Perez remains confident about his skills
Even though Perez has not managed to reach Q3 in any of the last five races, he hasn’t lost his confidence. When asked if he hopes to win any more races this year, he insisted that he was positive about his chances.
Perez explained that even though he has struggled during qualifying sessions, his race pace on Sundays have been encouraging. According to the 34-year-old, he just needs to figure out what is going wrong during the qualifying sessions and he would be good to go.
At the moment, Red Bull are not too worried about Perez. The Milton Keynes-based outfit is en route to winning both the Driver’s as well as the Constructor’s Championship once again. However, if Red Bull’s competitors manage to close the gap between them, then Perez could face the pressure to perform.
