Apparently, the term “wingman” is not generally taken as a good word in the Formula One fraternity. Back in the time, Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff coined the term wingman while talking about the former Mercedes dynamic between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Wolff called Bottas “a sensational wingman” to Hamilton. Naturally, it did not sit well with Bottas. However, since then, the wingman term has been used to describe the second driver of the team. All the drivers should get equal importance regarding the car and everything to win titles.
But that does not quite happen in F1. It is a bit unfair sport in that regard. However, in the Red Bull team Max Verstappen as expected, has been deemed as the main driver since Red Bull has been enjoying dominance on the grid. Checo has always been treated as a supporting role to the Dutchman. But Sergio Perez proved in 2023 that he is here to win as well and not play the part of a wingman anymore. The Mexican driver wide openly announced to be more than just a wingman of Verstappen in the Red Bull team.
Sergio Perez Is No More A Wingman Of Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen, who put an end to the hegemony of the Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes era, won back-to-back world championships. He helped Red Bull to win the constructor’s title as well last year. Furthermore, since the start of the season, Verstappen has held a healthy lead over the rest of the drivers on the points table. The Dutchman has made it very clear that he wants to win the third consecutive world championship. However, this year Sergio Perez won a Grand Prix as well in Saudia Arabia. And apparently, Verstappen was not too happy after coming second, either.
It seems like both the Red Bull drivers are gearing up to win the championship. Lately, Sergio Perez mentioned that “I want to win the championship and, for that, need to get the same treatment as Verstappen.” There were speculations regarding Checo not getting the same treatment in the Red Bull team. But his dad, Perez Sr., has cleared all the doubts. He mentioned that Red Bull is a professional team, and they give the two drivers equal opportunities regarding the cars and other stuff. Red Bull boss Christian Horner noted, “We don’t treat our drivers any differently. They are all equally important to us.”
Checo Needs To Work On His Consistency
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez has proved that no matter what, he can win races after his success in Jeddah. Especially when it comes to street race tracks, like in Baku, Checo will be very hard to beat. The only problem with the Mexican is his consistency. In the previous Grand Prix in Australia, Checo messed things up. He had a DNF in the qualifying rounds and finished P5 in the final race in Melbourne.
However, his fans were waiting to see him win back-to-back Grands Prix after the win in Jeddah. But Red Bull fans must be happy as they have won all the races, including the constructor’s title races, after the first three Grands Prix this year. Now the teams are getting ready for the challenge in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix starts late this month.
