Probably everyone who followed the last season of Formula 1 was sure that Sergio Perez deserved a seat in the racing series for 2021. Is this still a matter of fact after this season? What do his results show in his new racing team?
Let’s start with the bounciness of the second seat at Red Bull. After Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull to join Renault for the 2019 season, it seems that the Red Bull team brought chaos instead of consistency to the race track.
Pierre Gasly drove alongside Verstappen for the first half of the 2019 season. However, after the summer break, he was replaced by Alex Albon, who had started his rookie season at AlphaTauri this year.
He was destined to leave Red Bull as a permanent driver after the 2020 season, leaving him without a permanent seat in F1 this season – but that will change again next year when he joins Williams.
For 2021, Red Bull opted for Sergio Perez, who had been without a seat until then after his outstanding race performances in the final rounds of the 2020 season.
The suspicion is that Red Bull wanted to secure two experienced drivers before the new regulations and the new generation of racing cars arrive in 2022.
Until the summer break, however, Perez has only been of limited help in attacking Mercedes or helping Max Verstappen to the title.
He scored 104 points in the first half of the year and before his contract extension – taking a podium in France and winning the race in Baku. On the other hand, he finished outside the points in three races.
Then came the summer break, during which the F1 driver merry-go-round was in action.
Christian Horner revealed about this phase of the season:
“We sat down together during the summer break and realised that we would get a better Checo if we gave him security. The second half of the season proves us right. Checo has become much better.”
Credit: f1.com
But was the second half really more successful for the Mexican?
In qualifying, he was behind his teammate Verstappen in every race. Nevertheless, the Dutchman never qualified worse than P3 and is fighting for the title.
These differences in qualifying pace could be because braking in Red Bull’s current car is not easy. Horner explains the following:
“Max gains all his time in the slow and medium-fast corners. Sometimes up to two tenths in a single spot. The rear of our cars has always been nervous under braking. Max doesn’t mind. Everyone else does. They lose confidence and become unsure. Maybe Max doesn’t even notice this nervousness in the car and just drives over it.”
As a result, Perez loses between three and eight tenths to Verstappen.
Confidence in the race car is the most important thing for drivers, so it’s no wonder that Sergio Perez sometimes struggles with it. This is especially evident when he has to make quick adjustments, such as strategy changes.
Nevertheless, Perez seems to have become more confident in the races. His average placing in the second half of the season is 6.44th. Especially in the last races, he was consistently in third or fourth place.
He also seems to trust the Red Bull a bit more again when it comes to overtaking: At Zandvoort, Monza and Losail he delivered the most overtaking manoeuvres and fought his way to the front of the grid in wheel-to-wheel duels.
Perez, however, sees his development will be based on teamwork:
“The better I understand the car and the team, the less it will affect me.”
Whether Perez’ success has to do with the contract extension or general experience, what is clear is that the Mexican forms a charismatic team with Max Verstappen and next season looks set to be just as exciting as this one.
Feature Image Credit: Francois Nel via Getty Images