Sergio Perez is now a Red Bull Racing driver. It is a fantastic move for him and the team. The Austrian team has kept the F1 world guessing the identity of their second driver. For a long time, it seemed that Red Bull would keep Alex Albon, regardless of his poor performances. However, given Perez’s stunning late-season form, there was no choice to be made. It had to be the little Mexican. Perez finally gets his shot in a winning race car and Red Bull gets the reliable backup they have needed since Daniel Ricciardo departed.
Red Bull had one dog in the fight for most races in 2020. They cannot beat Mercedes in that situation. The team needed a reliable driver who is dependable and can back up Max Verstappen. In Perez, they have the perfect driver. The ten-year veteran brings a wealth of experience to the table. That is invaluable for a team that is trying to catch Mercedes. Perez checks that box, Albon does not. He was busy trying to wrestle the car and that never let Red Bull develop the cars in one direction. Perez’s knowledge of driving different cars in his long career puts him in a strong position to start quickly at his new team.
A Move a Decade in the Making
The last decade demonstrated that Sergio Perez is the gatekeeper of the F1 midfield. Whenever there was a strange, crazy race, Perez was inevitably scrambling his way to big points or a podium. It was this trait that marked Perez in his early career. His second season saw him take multiple podiums for Sauber; he routinely raced that car a lot higher than where it should have been. It is a remarkable skill in F1 to be competitive in vehicles that shouldn’t be. Perez has made a career out of this skill. Strangely though, those performances never led to a top team offering him a drive. Ferrari went one step further by dropping him from the driving academy. The elite teams had seemingly given up on Perez. It looked like his career had stalled.
A sideways move to Force India did not represent the progress that Perez wanted. Nevertheless, he never let it bother him. In his third race for the team, Perez bagged a podium. He displayed that brilliant racecraft and calm demeanour that underpinned his early career. In three of his four years at the team, he made the podium at least once. When all hell would break loose in a Grand Prix, Perez remained the calmest and was able to navigate his way through the chaos and get a brilliant result.
Furthermore, it wasn’t just the on-track performances that made him shine. As the team faced financial ruin, Perez and his billionaire sponsor Carlos Slim ensured that the team could function while they were looking for a long term buyer. Perez was instrumental in Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll buying the team. Perez saved that team.
Perez’s Breakout Year
Through all the trials and tribulations, Perez made it to the 2020 season. His team, Racing Point, had controversially designed a fantastic race car; the best car of his career. He had to cash in. Early season problems with race strategy plus a positive Covid test saw Perez’s season stumble out of the starting blocks. Then the very team that he helped save decided they did not want Perez in their squad for 2021. Racing Point had replaced him with Sebastian Vettel.
Once again, it looked like Perez’s career had another hurdle erected in front of him. One would have understood if Perez had felt down or disheartened. Yet Perez never let himself down. He carried on. Fighting hard for his team, once he had shaken the after-effects of Covid off, Perez’s season came alive. Outside of mechanical failures, Perez always finished in the points after his return.
Then came those two crazy races in Istanbul and Sakhir. Perez shone in the wet conditions of Turkey as he kept calm to wrestle his car to second place. Then in Sakhir, he was involved in a first-lap crash; again he did not lose his cool or get flustered. He recalibrated and then proceeded to overtake everyone as he clawed his way from last to first to take his first Grand Prix win. It was the best year of his career. His performances gave Red Bull no choice.
2021 Can’t Come Soon Enough
Perez will be desperately counting the days down till the Australian Grand Prix. It is his first legitimate shot at racing with the big boys at the head of the field. He has waited ten years for this opportunity and he will grasp it with both hands. Red Bull doesn’t need him to beat Verstappen regularly, they need him to finish behind him. Perez needs to maximize his points haul every weekend, then when the weekends where Verstappen is in trouble, he has to lead the team. This is what Albon never did. Perez has the ability and the right temperament to succeed in the spotlight. Ten years of F1 racing has prepared him perfectly for this test. He will pass with flying colors.
