Why Perez’s F1 2023 struggles against Verstappen won't be easy to resolve
Sergio Perez started the 2023 Formula 1 season promisingly, but then everything went downhill. As his campaign dissolved in a slew of on-track blunders, speculation about his future naturally followed. Publicly at least, Red Bull is standing by its man, but as ALEX KALINAUCKAS writes, turning things around won't be straightforward
“At the moment, I’m feeling very comfortable with the car.” When Sergio Perez spoke those words he was sitting just one point off the 2023 Formula 1 standings lead. He’d just won in Jeddah, his first victory of what was a fresh season. Two races later, leaving Azerbaijan, he was still only six points adrift and had matched Max Verstappen at 2-2 in the grand prix victory stakes.
Come the campaign’s conclusion, Perez occupied the same spot in the standings. But the gap to his victorious team-mate was a Formula 1 record 290 points. Perez didn’t win again after Baku, while Verstappen racked up 17 more victories on his way to another record-setting season total. Perhaps more damningly, Verstappen’s solo points haul would have been enough for Red Bull to beat Mercedes to second in the constructors’ championship.
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