Sergio Perez tipped to remain at Red Bull beyond 2024 as he continues to challenge Max Verstappen
Pedro de la Rosa believes Sergio Perez has shown that adapting to a new team is not easy in F1.
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Sergio Perez
Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez joined Red Bull in 2021. The Mexican driver has managed to live up to expectations at the Austrian team as Checo played the role of a second fiddle to Max Verstappen perfectly for two seasons. The 33-year-old hopes to finally fight his teammate for the world title this season. Former F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa claims that Sergio Perez has done enough to earn a contract extension.
De la Rosa mentioned the progress made by Sergio Perez over his time at Milton Keynes. The Former F1 driver believed that the Mexican driver had improved consistently at every race for the Austrian team. Pedro de la Rosa said, “I really think that Checo will stay at Red Bull, or should stay because he’s been getting stronger and stronger race-by-race since he joined Red Bull.”
The 52-year-old reckoned that Sergio Perez had proved how hard it is for drivers to adapt to a top team. Perez is one of the few drivers who could live up to expectations. Pedro said, “He’s proved that it’s not easy to adapt to a big team or car, especially with this new Formula 1, and there’s very few drivers that if you throw them into a new car or team, they will just perform and adapt themselves to the car.”
Sergio Perez was the first driver to adjust at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen since Daniel Ricciardo left the team in 2018. De la Rosa cited the Mexican’s driving style for this. He said, “Most of the drivers need the car to adapt to them, and I think Checo is an example of how he really managed to adapt the car to his driving style.”
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“I don’t see Red Bull replacing him,” Pedro de la Rosa on Sergio Perez
The former F1 driver brought light to the new era of Formula 1. The sport has reduced testing time significantly in the last few years. This, in turn, hampers a driver’s ability to get up and running with a new team. Pedro explained, “These new modern cars are really complex, you have no testing and you need to play with what the engineers call ‘the toys’ which is the brake balance, brake migration, engine braking, and differential, so that is pretty complex.”
Lastly, the 52-year-old had faith in Christian Horner‘s team not to replace Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver has become the ideal candidate to partner with two-time world champion Max Verstappen. De la Rosa concluded, “It’s not only about springs and bars, so now that Checo is performing well, I don’t see Red Bull replacing him.”
Thus, Pedro de la Rosa is confident that Sergio Perez has done enough to convince Red Bull to stay with the Austrian team. The Mexican driver won the Saudi Arabian GP this season as Checo tries to go head-to-head with his teammate to clinch his maiden F1 world championship. It remains to be seen if this is enough for Milton Keynes to provide Perez with a contract extension for next season.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)