The Force India driver finished an impressive third at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – a chaotic race that saw multiple shunts and safety cars. Giving his appraisal of the race, Sergio Perez believes Max Verstappen is suffering with the same problem he had whilst at McLaren.
The Mexican see’s parallels between his performance in the Woking team whilst teamed up with Jenson Button, and Max’s current season of spins, crashes and being shown how to race by his team mate on Sunday.
“Looking back on my previous Formula 1 career, time at McLaren has hurt me more. My reputation has suffered because everyone remembered how Jenson Button beat me.”
Back then the young Mexican out qualified the British driver over the 2013 season, but then was beaten on points in the races – Button finished ninth in the World Championship with 73 points, Pérez finished 11th in the World Championship with 49 points.
Pérez says: “I made too many mistakes because I was impatient. I was frustrated.”
The Mexican has a reputation in the paddock for ‘arrogance‘ and indeed recently a past team manager confessed that his arrogance held him back in terms of blossoming at McLaren. The next statement from Perez shows that perhaps things haven’t changed when he says “My McLaren was not as competitive as I had been promised. I lost many points because of that”. Entitlement is indeed alive and well with Checo.
“I think Max was just too impatient in the last races and I can understand that well. His car is not as good as hoped, he is overcompensating and he has lost a win in China.”
“I am convinced that it was a big blow for Max to see Daniel win in Shanghai. But I think Verstappen for a smart guy. I’m sure he’ll have noticed what happened and that’s why he’s an even better racer.”
“If you have Max behind you, then you have to expect something crazy. But in almost all cases he has his car under control. Now came some bad races in a row. But he will leave that behind. He’s an above-average racer, and I have no qualms about racing with him.”
Meanwhile Force India team boss Bob Fernley said on Sky Sports that it is “criminal” that Perez has not driving for a top team.
“I feel for Sergio in many ways because I think he is possibly the most underrated F1 driver out there,”
“As a racer he’s amazing and, not that we would ever want to lose him, but I think it’s criminal that he’s been overlooked.”
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The Azerbaijan GP was probably the most enthralling race yet of 2018.
Drama from lap 1 – Ferrari strategy in question, Vettel driving in question, Red Bull clash between Verstappen and Ricciardo, Sauber beating McLaren, McLaren in the points again (somehow)…
1. Regarding entitlement/arrogance: Being promised a good McLaren and not getting it… means you were promised something and it wasn’t delivered. That’s not entitlement, lol.
2. So, here’s a prediction for 2019:
Sergio Perez –> Mercedes (takes Bottas’ seat)
Russel –> Force India (takes Perez’s seat), pending a top 1 or 2 finish in the F2 championship.
I don’t particularly like Perez, but here’s something to consider the following:
Max Verstappen is considered one of the best in F1. Carlos Sainz compared very favorably with Max, beating him several times when they were teammates.
Carlos Sainz has been handily beaten by Nico Hulkenberg since he joined late last season. Nico is considered one of the most underrated drivers in F1, and one of the best, according to Lewis Hamilton.
Sergio Perez dominated Hulk during their time together at Force India. Perez also did some amazing things while at Sauber. Teams readily admit that driver comparisons of this sort are done to best assess different drivers at different teams. Thus, Sergio Perez fully deserves to go to a top team, like Mercedes.
CHANGE MY MIND. 🙂
If Bottas continues to drive as he does I don’t think M-B makes any driver changes. And if RB convince Riccairdo to stay I think Raikkonen stays at Ferrari for another year. Perez isn’t WC material – he’s found his level at Force India.
I agree that MB, RB, and Ferrari making driver changes for next year is somewhat unlikely, it’s not fair to say Perez isn’t WC material. He’s one of the few drivers that’s been on the podium several times since 2012 and doesn’t driver a Ferrari, RB, or MB. He’s beaten Hulk and by comparison, Verstappen and Sainz, all of whom are tipped to be future champions. What is it about his time at Force India and Sauber make you feel he is not capable of a championship?
Hulk won Lemans, but has never been on an F1 podium. Overall at their time together at Force India, Perez destroyed him.
I think Hulkenberg is over-rated which is why he too has never gotten a drive with a top team.
I got 99 problems but being stuck at Force India aint one – Max’s answer to Perez.