Column | Perez's performance shows major error of judgement by Red Bull Racing

Red Bull overestimates junior talents

It's safe to say that Red Bull Racing made an error in judgement at the end of 2018. Daniel Ricciardo left the team and the brand, which has been busy with its own junior programme from day one, thought they could make up for this with their own young talents that are just short of world-class. With all due respect to Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon, they had not yet shown what Sebastian Vettel or Max Verstappen did.

Gasly and Albon needed more time with a smaller team, just as Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz needed more time to mature, and so a second driver would have been better next to Verstappen. However, Red Bull let Sainz go and other options were not considered either. In early 2017, Gasly was still deemed not ready for F1 and had to do another year of Super Formula after his F2 title, but in 2019 he was suddenly ripe enough for F1.

We saw the same pattern with Albon. He too was kicked out of the Red Bull programme altogether at an earlier stage, only to be brought back in 2019 as a fallback. A third place in the F2 championship suddenly proved enough for a seat at Toro Rosso, and six months later, fine performances were rewarded with a promotion to Red Bull Racing.

Sticking to your mistake

It was a remarkable decision at the time for Red Bull to break Gasly's confidence after just six months and bring in a Rookie who had barely warmed up. It soon became apparent that Albon didn't have the speed required for a top team either, but Red Bull wouldn't budge. For 2020 they kept Albon on the team.

A big mistake for Red Bull, because while Verstappen was able to put pressure on Mercedes on his own, you can now see what you can achieve when you have two drivers of that level. Red Bull have thought for too long that their junior talents would close that gap, but Albon and Gasly just weren't fast enough and Red Bull have realised that too late.

Verstappen fans laugh at Perez

By the end of 2020, it was only logical that Red Bull had finally abandoned the mad idea of holding on to talent that wasn't good enough. Especially with a driver like Sergio Perez on the market, Red Bull had to strike. A perfect choice. A masterstroke, but certainly not without risks.

In the first five races, Perez showed nothing that Albon or Gasly could not do. In fact, such a gap with your teammate was entirely down to Max, not the poorly performing teammates. Perez asked for five races, and now has the last laugh. 

Perez smiles last

In Imola, we already saw a flash in qualifying, where not Verstappen, but suddenly Sergio was Red Bull's frontman. Neither Albon nor Gasly had ever managed that. In Azerbaijan, he proved his worth for the first time. He was the first teammate of Verstappen, after Ricciardo, to keep a Mercedes behind him. And not just one, no Perez managed to overcut Lewis Hamilton and keep him behind, while Albon and Gasly never had the speed to compete at the front.

Whereas Albon sometimes found himself out in front because a safety car had brought the field together, but always lacked pure pace, Perez was there from the first lap. He was aggressive in the opening lap and drove straight to P4. There he patiently waited for his chance, which he got with the pit stops. The fact that he got in front of Hamilton despite a lesser pit stop from Red Bull says a lot about the speed he's got.

Until the Pirelli blunder, Red Bull were on course for a perfect result with a 1-2 in Azerbaijan, and that was thanks to Perez. Verstappen's retirement is a blow, but with Hamilton outside the points and Perez on the top step of the podium, they made the best of a difficult situation.

Drivers are not the most important factor in Formula 1, because the cars still determine their chances, but if Perez has proven anything, it is that a good driver can actually make the difference. With Albon and Gasly you do not become world champion, but with a driver like Perez, you are suddenly 26 points away from Mercedes.

This article first appeared on the Dutch edition of GPblog. Created by Tim Kraaij.