Rightful criticism? Sergio Perez had a great year at Red Bull Racing!
Column
- GPblog.com
Sergio Perez won one race for Red Bull this season. By chance, because his teammate Max Verstappen suffered a blowout in Baku in the closing laps and Lewis Hamilton missed his braking point at the restart. In most races Perez stayed in the middle of the pack. It brought him regular criticism. But is that right?
No pit stop
Verstappen praised Perez after the race in Abu Dhabi. According to Verstappen, he would not have won the world title without the help of the Mexican. The way Perez indeed the approaching Hamilton a lap and a half long made life difficult, is already legendary. Because of the fight Verstappen could approach Hamilton within two seconds.
Due to the safety car on the track after Nicholas Latifi's accident, the field slid back together towards the end of the race. The same would have happened if Perez hadn't managed to hold off Hamilton. Still, there's important detail: Perez had kept Hamilton busy for so long that he didn't have enough of a lead over Verstappen to make a free pit stop. As we all know, that was a decisive moment in the title fight afterwards.
Crucial role
Especially in qualifying, the sympathetic Perez regularly failed (whether or not by mistakes of his team). It is true, in this area there is still much to be gained. Nevertheless, Perez played a crucial role in Verstappen's world title. Take Monaco, for example, where Perez kept Hamilton behind with an overcut. Or take away Hamilton's fastest lap at Silverstone. And don't forget how Perez held off Hamilton in Turkey, where he had to settle for fifth place.
Perez was also trouble for Hamilton in Austin. The Mexican forced the Mercedes leader into a pit stop, so he could not do an undercut. Verstappen eventually won this race. In Brazil, Hamilton did win (by a large margin). But the fastest car of the day didn't manage to conquer the point for the fastest lap. That went to - you guessed it - Sergio Perez.
Lots of points
Over the course of the season, Perez has managed to steal (in retrospect) important points from Hamilton. Points he ultimately fell short of keeping Max Verstappen from his first world title. Of course Red Bull wants Perez to be on the podium more often next season, preferably in second place and ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Yet the Mexican's season as a failure? Certainly not. In hindsight, the world title of Verstappen was not a certainty without the performance of Perez.
This article first appeared on the Dutch edition of GPblog, written by Ludo