AUTÓDROMO HERMANOS RODRÍGUE, Mexico. (Oct. 29, 2023)- RedBull racing has been on a tear this year, dominating the season with a staggering 17 wins already. Sergio Perez(Also known as The Mexican Minister of Defense, or the Tyre Whisperer) looked very strong at the beginning of the season, winning two of the first four races of the season in Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan.
Although Sergio has picked up two wins on the season, Max Verstappen has been on a tear, racking up fifteen wins already. On track to be the best driver of all time, Max Verstappen has been dominating ever since he stepped foot into Formula one.
Last Sunday, Max reached 50 career wins, proving he is on track to be the best driver of all time. His 50th win put himself up there with Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost.
Even though Sergio and Max have the same car, Max has proved week in and week out, he is a better driver than his teammate. Because of this, a lot of controversy has been spread about Sergio’s future in a Re Bull car. Apparent rumors of his retirement (That were later proved to be false), and Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda possibly replacing him, putting Sergio in RedBull’s sister team, Alphatauri.
Rumors are just rumors for a reason though, but could this possibly happen?
With Sergio’s lack of pace over the past few weekends, people have started to ask, “Does he still have it?”, “Is he even motivated to drive the car anymore?”
Over the past thirteen races, Sergio has only secured one top four, four podiums, and only seven Q3 appearances. To be driving the best car in Formula one and putting up numbers like such, it is a shocker to many fans.
Being teammates with possibly “The Greatest Driver of All Time”, is no easy task. Even though he is in the best car, he hasn’t got the support he needs as his teammate and 3x World champion has received. Helmut Marko has said many spiteful things against Sergio, even saying “He is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as [Max Verstappen] and [Sebastian Vettel].”
The real question is, “How will Sergio perform at his home race this weekend?”
Fans would love to see Sergio win for the first time at home, especially since he has been so close the past two years. Tensions have become so heated, RedBull has even announced that Max Verstappen will be provided “Extra Security” during the race weekend. Fans have become so upset with Max, they even started booing after his win in Austin last week, feeling that his safety might be compromised if he wins in Mexico this weekend.
Sergio knows he needs to perform for his home crowd this weekend, silence all of the talk, and perform like he did in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. In that race, he wrecked into turn one, going from P5 to P20 in one turn. He later on came back to win the race in a spectacular fashion, the week after it was announced Racing Point was dropping him for Sebastian Vettel.
This race is huge for Sergio, and he knows how high the stakes are for him. Can we see Sergio get back to where he was at the beginning of the season? Will the Max and Sergio rivalry be tested here? I can’t say for sure what will happen, but just know, we will all be glued to our chairs watching.
Race coverage begins this Sunday at 4:00 p.m. on ABC/ESPN+
