F1 News
'Perez would be better off accepting the genius of Verstappen'
Struggling Sergio Perez spoke of a serious chance of winning the world title. But two races after his great victory in the streets of Baku at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, resistance already seems broken. Meanwhile, the Mexican's deficit to teammate Max Verstappen is 39 points.
Perez has himself entirely to blame, as in Monaco he hit the crash barrier early in qualifying. From 20th and last starting position, as well as a pit stop tombola, he never even came close to the points. Needless to say, Perez was extremely disappointed with that himself. After the race, the Mexican lamented that he could not afford such a zero score in Monte Carlo.
Brundle learned from Senna, Schumacher and Hakkinen
On several occasions, former drivers have argued that Perez will pose no threat to Verstappen on his way to his third world title. Martin Brundle, himself active in Formula 1 for many years and now an analyst for Sky Sports, is next in line. He, too, had seen in Monte Carlo how Perez's deficit in the title race has already increased to more than the number of points that can be earned with a win.
"What I learned when I was in direct competition with Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen and I simply couldn't match their raw speed and gifted talents was to maximise everything that was in my control such as car race set-up, starts, in laps, out laps, traffic management and so on," Brundle said in his column on the website of Sky. "Sergio would be better off making sure he finishes second and accepting the genius of Verstappen, and then maximise the days when he delivers his own special magic such as Singapore last year and Baku this season."