Sergio Perez is almost on the verge of accepting defeat to Max Verstappen already! That too, way before the season even began. The Mexican driver is battling with both mental and psychological confidence as he rounds up against his dominant teammate for the fourth straight year.
Verstappen already set the tone in the pre-season testing and it is highly unlikely that he struggle to win the 2024 championship. The three-time world champion showed his masterclass on the first day and third day of testing with the fascinating RB20.
The back-to-back fastest laps, quick sector times, and mega-time advantage over rivals surely made fans and experts hold Verstappen as the firm favorite for the title. On the other hand, struggle continued for Perez, who’s yet to find his footing in the new season.
The Mexican driver had multiple issues with his RB20 on day two of testing, which the team later sorted out. But the veteran driver failed to make a dent as good as Verstappen. Therefore, the lack of confidence to go against Verstappen has already crept in.
Great to be back in an F1 car again, good fun out there today pic.twitter.com/scrmZPyX5T
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) February 21, 2024
This comes right after a season that saw Verstappen take 19 wins in a single season, whereas Perez could claim only two despite driving the same car. According to Auto Motor Und Sport, Perez is suffering from psychological and on-track disadvantages. He was almost seven-tenths slower than his teammate coming into 2024 testing.
While the defending champion positioned himself as the absolute favorite, Perez had to settle in the mix of Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, and Aston Martin drivers. Citing this, Helmut Marko, the advisor to the Red Bull Racing believes Perez needs to play his own game and forget about competing with Verstappen. “Perez has to get Max out of his head and run his own program,” he said.
What takes Max Verstappen a step ahead of the rest?
Red Bull raised multiple eyebrows when they launched the RB20 for the first time on February 15. Even though many expected Adrian Newey to come up with something better than the RB19, they did not anticipate the “dragon” Red Bull’s mastermind would come up with.
The RB20 features sidepods and shoulders very similar to that of Mercedes’ W14 from 2023. However, it’s more than just a simple zero sidepod. Newey enabled the new Red Bull challenger to have two slits on either side of the car for better airflow, together with a reverse spoon inlet. He then added two air ducts on either side of the driver’s head.
| Max Verstappen’s race simulations were ominous.
The RB20 showed basically zero tyre degradation across all tyre compounds.
[@formu1a__uno] pic.twitter.com/Wm6X8fXGMx
— formularacers (@formularacers_) February 24, 2024
Taking full advantage of the car, Max Verstappen has already begun to show his supremacy. The Dutchman took part in day one and day three of testing and ended up being the fastest driver on both days. Watching the 26-year-old ‘smoke’ everyone on the track, Fernando Alonso already predicted that 19 other drivers should already know that they will not become world champions this year.
Furthermore, Verstappen has shown ample confidence in Newey and the team of engineers over their work. All in all, together with Max Verstappen’s pace, and Adrian Newey’s innovation, Red Bull once again proved itself to be the utmost favorite to clinch both Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships in 2024.
