From the Editor’s Desk – February 2024 – Can Sergio Pérez Do Anything to Keep His Red Bull Seat in 2025?

Let me start by repeating myself. Serio Pérez is the current Formula 1 vice-champion, and the first ever Red Bull driver to follow his championship-winning teammate to complete a 1-2 finish in the world driver’s standings in 2023. This is something Mark Webber never achieved during the Sebastian Vettel era from 2010 to 2013, and yet, during that time, not once was Webber facing media reports week in, week out, about the security of his second seat. His results, while Vettel claimed his four big trophies, were 3rd, 3rd, 6th and 3rd in the standings, comparing so far to Pérez’s 4th, 3rd and 2nd in the second seat, easily in the same comparability, if not debatably better.

So why have the media been so harsh on Sergio, especially during the middle of 2023? Could it be down to the points gap to that winning teammate? Well, maybe that is fair. Webber was 14 points, 134 points, 102 points and 198 points behind Vettel during his term, while Pérez, with a few more races per season, was 205.5 points, 149 points and 290 points behind Verstappen. However, as a percentage of points scored to their team mates, it paints a slightly different picture. At their worst, both drivers hover around the 50% mark of Vettel and Verstappen's haul. Webber in 2013 scored 50.12%, and last year Pérez scored 49.56%. So I would argue, again, that Pérez is doing exactly what Red Bull wants and needs, historically, from their second seat.

Am I personally more of a fan of Sergio Pérez than I ever was of Mark Webber? 100%. But was I disappointed with Pérez’s season throughout the middle stint from after Miami until about Brazil? Also 100%. Sergio was in an awful position with terrible qualifying results and, despite some very good recovery drives, there were other weekends you could have forgotten he was there.

If you ask me, I think there was something deeper in Pérez’s mind during 2023. He revealed he went to psychiatrists during the season last year, reportedly to get his mind straight to focus on his driving, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he was suffering mentally from the stress being put on him every week by the media every single time he got out the car and was slower, even by a couple of tenths, to his teammate.

I do not know what it is like to work at Red Bull. Certainly, whenever Christian Horner was asked about Pérez, he backed him publicly. He openly said he would like qualifying to improve, but was sure Sergio would get there. Take it at face value, but there have been far worse team principles in F1’s recent history when it comes to backing their drivers. Hopefully, this support is more than skin deep, but if the rest of the key people at Red Bull do back Pérez, then this is one of the big reasons why I think he will still finish runner-up in 2024, and maybe keep his seat for 2025.

Sergio Pérez, 34 years old, born in Guadalajara, Mexico, has now been in Formula 1 for 13 years. Normally, this is when even the most seasoned of drivers would be looking towards the end of their careers. But recently, with Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Barrichello and Button all breaking the old records, getting to 20+ years in the sport, that timeframe appears to be lengthening. Drivers are better conditioned before they enter the sport, are safer in accidents and suffer far less from exhaustion during races compared to even the 1990s and early 2000s as race pace intensity has declined.

Pérez could physically probably go on for another 5-10 years in the sport if he wanted to, however, as the average age of the grid gets younger, but the average careers of the top talents get longer, the pressure on drivers like Sergio from the junior ranks and younger up and comers increases massively. F1’s decision to stick to only 10 teams with 20 seats to fill a grid has already meant that top talent from lower formulae have missed their chance, with none of the last three F2 champions failing to immediately graduate to a seat.

So, what will Pérez have to do this year to stay maybe not just in Red Bull in 2025, but possibly in Formula 1? Well, for starters, he must sort out the obvious and widely reported problem of 2023, qualifying. Yes, there were instances that Pérez was caught out by yellow or red flags, not allowing him to complete his preparation as he or the car wanted, but this will not be an excuse in 2024 as the field possibly compresses and a bad result might be harder to rectify in the race.

Generally speaking in 2023, once Pérez was in clear air, or in the mix with the top runners, he could stay with or beat them (apart from Verstappen). In honesty, if a similar situation occurs in 2024 where Verstappen disappears into the distance, that is all Pérez needs to do. If he can qualify in the top 4 or 5, stay aggressive and hold position at the start, then pick off those ahead and get second or third places every race, there will be nothing to complain about. He will be getting excellent results, he will be there to pick up the pieces if Verstappen has a problem, and he will not be allowing commentators and journalists to lambast him for fighting for the lower points places.

Pérez does have a trait which serves him well, and that is his aggression when overtaking or defending positions. He rarely will be out-muscled and the other driver will back off first. This doesn’t always work out, as we saw at turn one in Mexico last year, but Sergio is a fighter, one I would generally back with equal machinery capability in an on-track battle with the likes of George Russell, Charles Leclerc, or Carlos Sainz. If the grid is closer this year and Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and maybe others are within the same pack, there are few I would say Pérez will not be able to withstand.

What I think will allow Pérez to succeed in 2024 is his fortitude, despite his issues last summer. Throughout his career, Sergio backs himself and scraps for something he targets. People easily forget his giant-killing performances at Sauber, beating both Ferrari’s at home in Monza, and the podiums he got with Force India (WHERE HE FINISHED 4TH OVERALL IN 2020), bit instead they will happily mention his troubled year at McLaren in 2013 and say he does not have the backbone when in the spotlight. I think that is ridiculous.

Whenever his back is against the wall and people are questioning him, Sergio Pérez delivers. So come on Sergio, show everyone one more time, fight off lesser deserving sharks circling your Red Bull seat like Alonso, Sainz, and Daniel Riccardo. Fight on... And please, if you have the chance, fight Max for a few more wins.

Vamos Checo, Vamos!!