Sergio “Checo” Perez had a lot of expectations of him going to Australia. After the Mexican won the Saudia Arabian Grand Prix, F1 fans thought there was a legitimate threat to Max Verstappen. Evidently, no other team is coming close to the RB19 car at the moment. Clearly, Red Bull Racing is lucky to have the fastest vehicle on the grid at the moment. Hence, due to a lack of competition, F1 Motorsport can get a bit boring for a few fans. It always helps the sport to gain popularity if there is good competition. Formula One had that during Nikki Lauda and James Hunt’s rivalry. Later the rivalry between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna was a big popularity boost for the sport.
Since then, Formula One has not seen that level of competition between two drivers. However, if Perez can hold on to his grip, then Verstappen can have a fair battle with the same car. Albeit, the Australian Grand Prix was a disappointing tour for Checo. He could not finish the Q1 with a DNF. Later, in the final round, Sergio Perez managed to secure P5. The final race on Sunday was indeed filled with drama and disturbance due to three red flags. But Max Verstappen was able to hold his grip and win the race.
Helmut Marko Denies Checo’s Claims Regarding RB19 Issues
Why could Checo not be able to do the same? The Milton Keynes team advisor, Dr. Helmut Marko, was pleased as to how the Australian Grand Prix ended on Sunday. However, he did mention Sergio Perez created his problems for himself. On the first day of Qualifying, Checo lost his control of the brake. And then what happened? He got stuck in the gravel.
Later, Checo mentioned it was due to certain issues with the car. Albeit, Marko denied Checo’s claim and blamed the Mexican for his DNF performance in Q1 and finishing fifth at the end of the GP. Marko, in comparison, mentioned, “Verstappen drove with a lot of caution to not damage the car. Later, he accelerated. And the result was what he wanted. Checo could have done the same.”
Sergio Perez Has A Good Chance To Beat Max Verstappen
Even the Dutchman did not have a great start to the race on the final day. In the beginning, George Russell of Mercedes got the better of him. However, with a lot of distractions caused due to the so-called FIA rulebook, stopping the race thrice gave the defending champion the momentum he needed. Max Verstappen, hold on to that till the last second to clinch yet another victory.
Checo earlier made a comment that Red Bull is favoring Max a bit over him. In reply, Horner mentioned, “that’s the first time I’m hearing Checo say something like that. We support both our drivers and cars equally.” Checo also mentioned after the race in Jeddah that he is looking forward to winning the whole thing. He is the closest to Max at the moment, but if he can’t make podium finishes anymore would get him further away from his teammate.