“The Minister of Defence” – Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Max Verstappen pay a fitting tribute to Sergio Perez for assisting the latter to the world championship in the season-finale at Abu Dhabi.
Sergio Perez played a stupendous role in Max Verstappen’s race and title victory, holding off Lewis Hamilton in a brilliant battle at the Yas Marina Circuit, consequently helping Verstappen cut the gap to the Mercedes driver from 12 seconds to one.
It is no surprise then that their Red Bull boss Christian Horner is proud of the Mexican, especially considering it was his first season with the energy drinks company.
“He’s been a great team-mate this year, I think. The ambience between you guys has been fantastic – he says you [Verstappen] owe him a beer for Abu Dhabi…
Max Verstappen: “Oh, I’ll pay a lot of beers. It’s going to be good.”
Sergio Perez on the heavier 2022 car
The 2022 car is going to be a lot different than its predecessors, apart from the fact it will sport an 18-inch tyre, rather than the existing 13-inch ones.
This, along with many other components, has made the car heavier, something Perez feels is going to be a challenge for all the 20 drivers on the grid.
“Yes. I’ve driven the car and I think it’s going to be very different, of course. The cars are a lot heavier than where they are now, so definitely, yes, [it] takes a lot.”
But Perez is a master of tyre management, and handled the transition from a Mercedes car (Racing Point) to a Honda one with Red Bull seamlessly. Watch out for him acing the radically different cars like only he can.
