Sergio Perez is experiencing probably his toughest phase as a professional F1 driver this year. Having started off on a solid foot, the Mexican driver paled in comparison to his teammate and has been under scrutiny for months now. With only five races left in the season, it seems to have become a ‘now or never’ situation for Perez, as experts believe his time in the Red Bull seat is up. Stepping into the first of five most crucial races of his career as F1 comes to Vegas, RacingNews 365 reports Perez is confident of a positive result in the US after visiting the factory to set up the car according to his needs.
The last three races have seen Perez secure five points and a DNF. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen raced to his third-consecutive driver’s world championship while securing his 14th race win of the season. As such, the pressure is on Perez to get back to winning ways and, more importantly, ensure a P2 finish in the driver’s standings. With the US and the Mexican GPs up next, Perez would want to register strong results in front of his home crowd. And according to his latest statements, he might be able to achieve the same.
Sergio Perez confident of a strong result in Las Vegas
Despite their drivers being P1 and P2 in the standings, things have been tricky for Red Bull in trying to fetch the best possible result in each race. As Sergio Perez continues to fail in being able to match the performances of Max Verstappen, the pressure is on him to either improve or suffer a similar fate as the ones before him.
Given the same, RacingNews 365 reports the Mexican recently visited the team’s factory and is confident of fetching strong results when F1 racing debuts in Las Vegas.
“I visited the factory in Milton Keynes last week. The team and I worked very hard to prepare ourselves as best as possible for the coming weeks. We had good conversations. In addition, I made analysis with my engineers to find the right path again. This was to be sure. where we went wrong and how we can improve.”
The 2023 season saw unprecedented dominance by the Milton Keynes-based team as Verstappen won the driver’s title with little resistance from any other driver. He also helped his team retain the constructor’s title despite Perez slumping in form. While the team achieved most of their targets with ease, one goal eludes them, and only Perez could help them achieve it. However, Lewis Hamilton stands in the way.
Helmut Marko has a warning for Perez in the form of Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull is the constructor’s champion this season, while Verstappen picked up the driver’s world championship in Qatar. However, their goal of securing a 1-2 finish in the driver’s standings is still far away as Perez’s poor form has allowed Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to catch up, despite the latter not winning any race this season. Marko understands this as he launched a word of caution towards the Guadalajara-born driver.
📰: Mark Webber believes Sergio Perez can still secure P2 in the Drivers’ Championship despite losing 25 points to Lewis Hamilton in recent races. With only a 30-point gap between them and changeable weather conditions ahead, Hamilton could catch up. Helmut Marko suggests Perez’s… pic.twitter.com/LTUz4g4akW
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) October 10, 2023
Speaking during an interview, Marko said, “We have to defend second place in the world championship, unfortunately, Lewis Hamilton is getting closer.” He added only someone like Alonso or Hamilton would be able to keep up with Verstappen as their teammate, adding extra pressure on Perez.
As such, it is entirely up to the 33-year-old to leave a positive impact with his performances in the closing stages of the season. While he has a contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2024 season, there is no guarantee that Perez will continue driving in the seat as an impressive Liam Lawson waits for the perfect opportunity to pounce on F1’s most coveted seat.
