Sergio Perez has come under immense pressure recently as he continues to underperform massively in comparison to his teammate Max Verstappen. Despite having the best car on the grid, the Mexican has failed to qualify for Q3 in his last five races. As a result of this disastrous form, the 34-year-old has now admitted that he is willing to play second fiddle to Verstappen.
However, this was not the case at the start of the season when Perez was keen on battling Verstappen for the title, after winning two of the opening four races. However, all his dreams have seemingly faded away with Verstappen currently leading the championship standings by 99 points. Since Perez has fallen so further back, he has accepted his fate of being second-best.
We were unlucky with the safety car and at the start of the race, but we fought right from the beginning to get some good points.
Tomorrow we’ll be back on the simulator working on our preparation for the next couple of races.
Great job by the whole team, let’s go for more!!!No… pic.twitter.com/OTh53j1NDV
— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) July 9, 2023
The Guadalajara-born driver has stated that his current goal is to finish this season second in the championship. As things stand, Perez has a slim 19-point lead over third-placed Fernando Alonso and cannot afford to make any more mistakes if he is keen on finishing second. The likes of Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Charles Leclerc are also eyeing that number two spot.
Sergio Perez reveals his revised goals for the 2023 season
Following his recent show run with Red Bull in Madrid, Sergio Perez conceded that he can no longer fight for the world championship this season. However, he hit back at all his critics strongly, by stating that him being second in the standings is not a “miracle”.
“In Formula 1, only your position in Abu Dhabi counts. But I’m not second in the standings by miracle. I have won races. I have had a few bad races, but there are still plenty of opportunities for us. The goal now? Undoubtedly, the number two in the world,” explained Perez in a conversation with AS (as quoted by racingnews365.nl).
It is pertinent to note that this is not the first time that Perez has been playing second fiddle to Max Verstappen. He also played a similar role during the 2021 world championship when the Dutchman won his maiden world title.
However, on that occasion, if it were not for Perez, Verstappen may even have lost the title. Perez brilliantly helped Verstappen win the title by putting up an impeccable defensive performance against Hamilton in the season finale. His defense was so good that he also earned the nickname: “The Minister of Defense“.
However, all his good work now seems to have been forgotten with Verstappen recently taking a massive dig at his teammate. The 25-year-old stated in an interview that he doesn’t need Perez and can win the Constructors’ Championship on his own. With Perez currently struggling, there is also a possibility that Red Bull may replace him with Daniel Ricciardo next year.
Ricciardo could replace Perez next season at Red Bull
Since AlphaTauri recently signed Daniel Ricciardo, many people believe that the senior Red Bull team are keen on evaluating the Australian as a potential option to replace Perez next season. As for Ricciardo, he too has made his ambitions abundantly clear. He wants to fight for the world championship once again.
As of now, there is not better place than Red Bull for Ricciardo, if winning the title is his aim. Hence, the onus is now on Perez to show that he is still deserving of the seat at Red Bull, especially since the team has a history of ruthlessly sacking drivers that do not meet expectations.
Even though Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has repeatedly stated that Perez’s seat is not in danger, the former Racing Point driver knows that he cannot take the Austrian’s words for granted. Considering the same, all eyes are likely to be on Perez for the remainder of the 2023 season.
