Sergio Perez - Can he still hack it?

[TrapezeArtist]

I’ll answer my own question and say “No”. His confidence has gone and he is making far too many mistakes by over-driving.

Red Bull number 2 drivers next year will be Dan Ricardo and Liam Lawson. I’m just not sure who will be in which car. Actually I’m not totally sure about Ricardo. He’s going to have to perform better in the last few races than he did in a whole season at McLaren.

[Richard C]

Perez needs to get his head screwed on right. I know he is 2nd in the championship, but the car is carrying him.

As to DR, I tend to think he is just a slightly different version of Perez. Someone who gets rattled when a teammate out performs him. He might be more consistent and even perform better than Perez if swapped in, but RBR should be able to do better.

Richard

[steve_r]

I have been a fan of his for a long time, but these last few races have been disastrous. The curse of the 2nd RBR seat seemed to have lifted for a while, but back again now with a vengeance. It's a shame.

The last race, it was not only yet more mistakes (track limits this time) but a lack of pace generally. Getting overtaken by an Alpine on what looked like genuine pace on comparable tyres is not a good look in the car that has won almost every single race this year.

I somehow doubt that the team will be putting an arm around his shoulders in a show of support.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by steve_r

I somehow doubt that the team will be putting an arm around his shoulders in a show of support.

They will if there's a camera pointing at them. But behind closed doors will be a different story. I think Qatar was the final nail in Checo's F1 coffin.

[BTCC frog]

I would say it has been quite clearly the worst season ever for someone finishing top two in the championship. The Red Bull has been the fastest car everywhere but Singapore and has had zero reliability issues on Perez’s car. So he should be finishing second every time. Also, the chasing pack has changed around so much that his closest challenger is Lewis Hamilton in a car that has rarely been second-best, usually third or fourth, and then Fernando Alonso who has had the fifth-best car for about half the season. There is no way Barrichello could have finished second in 2004 with a season like this because Button was consistently third. Also, in the qualifying championship, Perez is currently eighth and has been lucky with the DRS being so overpowered this year, particularly on the Red Bull. At his best he was a good midfield driver, but 2023 has been a shocker.

I think this season is showing just how under appreciated Valtteri Bottas was at Mercedes.

[Skam85]

Originally Posted by BTCC frog

I would say it has been quite clearly the worst season ever for someone finishing top two in the championship.

Frentzen in 97 says hi

[S griffin]

Checo started off so well, then just seems to have lost all that form

[BTCC frog]

Originally Posted by Skam85

Frentzen in 97 says hi

That is a good shout, and Patrese in 1992 is another contender. But Perez this year has been worse than either of those, in my opinion. Both Patrese and Frentzen tended to make the lists of top ten drivers for the season, but there is no way Perez will in 2023 (he is 15th in my ranking at the moment).

[V8 Fireworks]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Checo started off so well, then just seems to have lost all that form

Perez claims the car developed away from his driving style:

I think just having a more consistent base throughout the season, and having a car that doesn't change as much through the year, will definitely be quite beneficial to be able to be more consistent with the car. And I think that will be the key, because that was what happened in the first few races.

As we started to develop the car, it felt like the car went away from me, and I had to start chasing always the balance and compromise, [I was] having to make some compromises here and there.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/p...tappen-horner/



On the other hand, it is the number two driver's job to drive the car with the number one's drivers setup (or similar), and it is not sensible for Red Bull to develop the aero balance to make the car slower overall just to make Perez faster if it makes Verstappen slower and the overall peak laptime of the car slower.

(Refer: Ferrari. Sainz is faster at the expense of Leclerc being slower. Leclerc has been complaining about understeer *all year*. Charles Leclerc: "The very tricky thing is I love oversteering cars in general, and this has been a trait throughout my career. [This year,] I had to deal with quite a bit of understeer – just to have a few less unpredictable moments. Which is not what you want, and it is not the balance I enjoy the most, so it doesn’t really fit my driving style.")

As much as springs and damper can be changed, the aerodynamic centre of pressure characteristics are obviously relatively fixed based on the bodywork unless Red Bull Racing (or Scuderia Ferrari) develops two sets of bodywork -- but developing two sets of bodywork is not a sensible approach.

I maintain that Horner and Marko should endeavour to sign Leclerc to replace Perez. Leclerc's view seems similar to that of Verstappen. Max Verstappen: "Understeer cannot be fast. It's impossible."

[S griffin]

Well of course, they would develop more to Max's liking. He's their number 1. But the problem is they still need Checo up there in case anything happens to Max. So both the driver and team need to work together to get him back up there. At least Horner seems more supportive of his driver than Marko has been

[davec]

One thing that is interesting is that IF you remove Max from ALL the races and do a quick shuffle of everyone up one place for each race you realise just how bad Perez has been. He would only gain 4 wins and 2 other "new" podium finishes from Max 14 wins! The most dominant car ever would have gone 6 races without a win (But its all in the car and not the driver!!!!)

This is fairly consistent to the rest of the top 6 with them all gaining a few wins and a few additional podiums. Lando actually gains the most by becoming a 4x winner.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by davec

One thing that is interesting is that IF you remove Max from ALL the races and do a quick shuffle of everyone up one place for each race you realise just how bad Perez has been. He would only gain 4 wins and 2 other "new" podium finishes from Max 14 wins! The most dominant car ever would have gone 6 races without a win (But its all in the car and not the driver!!!!)

This is fairly consistent to the rest of the top 6 with them all gaining a few wins and a few additional podiums. Lando actually gains the most by becoming a 4x winner.

Lol, if it wasn’t Max and was someone else you’d have totally different races! Who knows how well Checo would have done. Personally I think he’d be winning though not by as much as Max of course.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Lol, if it wasn’t Max and was someone else you’d have totally different races! Who knows how well Checo would have done. Personally I think he’d be winning though not by as much as Max of course.

in that scenario, do you think that he would be able to deal with the increased pressure and attention of fighting for a title? even in the best of circumstances most fall short in these situations no?

[billy bleach]

Reckon Perez will retire in Mexico...

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by davec

One thing that is interesting is that IF you remove Max from ALL the races and do a quick shuffle of everyone up one place for each race you realise just how bad Perez has been. He would only gain 4 wins and 2 other "new" podium finishes from Max 14 wins! The most dominant car ever would have gone 6 races without a win (But its all in the car and not the driver!!!!)

This is fairly consistent to the rest of the top 6 with them all gaining a few wins and a few additional podiums. Lando actually gains the most by becoming a 4x winner.

Or look at it amother way. Based on Perez's strong performances and wins last year and this, when the car was still 'more to his liking' it might also be fair to say that if the car was developed alomg those lines and Max wasn't there, Perez would have won a lot more races and not appear to be so second rate.

[Beau2]

I like Perez, but if he doesn't secure 2nd in the Championship this year then he should be dropped/retire.

I can't think of the last time he had a good race and on current form I can't see him being able to support Verstappen in a future title bid.

He was miles ahead of 3rd in the Championship but now it feels like a real possibility he might not stay ahead. Hopefully, now Verstappen has clinched the championship Perez can forget the horrific mid-season he has had.

[bathurst77]

Oh Maxwell!
Have you been a very naughty boy and broken your team mate again?

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

Oh Maxwell!
Have you been a very naughty boy and broken your team mate again?

Do you mean Maxemilian?

[TrapezeArtist]

With respect to the car being developed down a route contrary to his driving style, that only addresses part of the issue. It might explain the lack of outright pace, but it doesn't say anything about the mistakes, crashes and penalties.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

With respect to the car being developed down a route contrary to his driving style, that only addresses part of the issue. It might explain the lack of outright pace, but it doesn't say anything about the mistakes, crashes and penalties.

Those mistakes perhaps come from his pushing to force his pace.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Those mistakes perhaps come from his pushing to force his pace.

Everyone is pushing to "force their pace".

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

Everyone is pushing to "force their pace".

I would expect the answer is that yes, others are pushing the envelope, but Perez is going even further and actually overdriving both his and the car's capabilities.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

Everyone is pushing to "force their pace".

How about he's trying to go faster than he reliably can in a car that doesn't suit his preferred style then? Hence mistakes, pressure, mistakes etc.

[NaBUru38]

Let me quote Helmut Marko:

Wir wissen ja, er hat Probleme im Qualifying, er hat Formschwankungen, er ist Südamerikaner, und er ist halt im Kopf nicht so völlig fokussiert, wie es beispielsweise Max oder wie es Sebastian war.

We already know, he has problems in qualifying, he has form fluctuations, he is South American, and his head is not as fully focused as Max or as Sebastian was.

https://www.oe24.at/sport/motorsport...aner/568209786

If he's so harsh in public, imagine how harsh he is in private.

Also, Guadalajara is 2,000 km north of the equator.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by peebee2

How about he's trying to go faster than he reliably can in a car that doesn't suit his preferred style then? Hence mistakes, pressure, mistakes etc.

If that's a reason to excuse him, you could excuse 18 other drivers on the grid for any mistakes they make. "Trying to go faster than he reliably can in a car that's not as fast as a Red Bull."