“Max is just the much better driver,” Christijan Albers dismisses Sergio Perez’s title contender status
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Christijan Albers feels that Sergio Perez is not in the championship fight with Max Verstappen.
Sergio Perez triumphed in Monaco after a mostly flawless weekend and a strategic masterclass during the race. The Mexican driver held on with failing tires to take the chequered flag ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and his teammate, Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc finished just behind Perez.
Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner had been delighted with Perez’s weekend and drive, saying that he is in fact in the championship fight. Well, at least in numbers, he is certainly in the championship fight, being only 15 points behind Max Verstappen. Talking to Sky Sports after the race, Horner said:
“An amazing day for Checo, he’s been on it all weekend.”
“He’s doing a great job, look at his performances so far. Jeddah, he had an amazing pole, time delta to him and Max has been closer this year.” he continued.
“He is in this championship as much as Max is, the gap between them is 15 points or so which is nothing. There’s a long way to go.“
However, former Minardi and Spyker driver Christijan Albers disagrees with the view of the Red Bull boss. According to him, Perez drove well but was lucky that Red Bull made the right strategy call over Ferrari.
Also Read: Christian Horner: Sergio Perez is in championship fight alongside Max Verstappen
Christijan Albers: “Max is of a completely different caliber.”
Talking on the Formula 1 podcast on the Telegraaf, Albers felt that the insinuation that both drivers were on equal footing was forced. He said:
“He did drive super well, but it’s so forced. He’s just been lucky that they made the right call.”
Albers also felt that the Mexican driver had an ‘advantage’ over his teammate Max Verstappen, who prefers an aggressive front end. However, this does not work so well in Monaco. On the other hand, Sergio Perez’s driving style gave him an advantage in Monte Carlo. In the long run, Albers does not believe that Sergio Perez is a title contender.
“Then he comes to Monaco [after the team orders in Spain] and then you will always see that vibe, and that irritates me a bit, that he also runs well through Monaco.“
Albers dismissed these two races as mere moments, saying that they were both partly so good as a result of luck being on Perez’s side.
“Then all at once you get these moments of, see, Perez is a good driver. Let’s be very honest, Max is still of a completely different caliber. If you ask me if I think it’s fair, I say no, because Max is just the much better driver. I think Checo has had two weekends where he just had some luck.”
Christijan Albers competed in 46 Grands Prix, with his last coming at the 2007 British Grand Prix. Sergio Perez will go into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix brimming with confidence, after two good weekends. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix last year was also the only time he won a race last season.
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