With the victory in the Monaco Grand Prix, Sergio Pérez is only 15 points behind the leadership of the Formula 1 World Championship. And his followers fear that Red Bull will not allow him to fight for the title with Max Verstappen.
When Red Bull asked Sergio Perez to give up his position to Max Verstappen in Barcelona (twice), many were those who denounced that the Austrian team had already chosen their candidate for the world title without having given time for one of them to win it on the track.
Many others, including the team, thought that in that race Red Bull defended his best team result, as Verstappen was running on better tires and was much quicker than Pérez thanks to his three-stop strategy.
Be that as it may, Sergio Pérez’s forceful weekend in Monaco, crowned with a victory, puts him squarely in the fight for the Formula 1 World Championship. If Red Bull lets him, of course.
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Christian Horner responds
As expected, the victory of the Mexican in the Principality was going to raise many questions for Red Bull about the freedom that Pérez will have in the future to compete on equal terms with his teammate.
“He is in this championship as much as Max”Christian Horner stated categorically. “The difference between the two is 15 points. It’s no big deal. He has been there all weekend, well deserved (the win). He is doing a great job. Look at his performances so far, in Jeddah he made an incredible pole position».
The Red Bull director not only states that both will have the opportunity to compete for the title, but admits that “the time difference between Checo and Max has been much, much smaller this year. To win this race, his third win, what a place to get that.”.
Ferrari, a very tough rival
But what Red Bull is not going to do is compromise its title chances against a Ferrari team that, while making mistakes in recent races, still has a fearsome car and two drivers.
“There is a lot of championship left and we can see that Ferrari has a very fast car,” recalls Horner, who is not fooled by the four wins in a row. “They had a better car than us on this track. I think, thanks to great teamwork, great work from the drivers, the wall, the double stop, we managed to beat them here.”
“That will not be easy in the next races. As a team, we always have to optimize our performance and towards the end of the championship, that’s where it will get really exciting.”
We will see what the future holds and if Red Bull keeps its word. Assuming Sergio Pérez does his part, of course.
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool