2023-08-28 12:00:03
A lot went wrong for Sergio Pérez at the Dutch GP in Zandvoort. Especially towards the end of the race when he crashed twice.
“He crashed into the wall at the entrance to the pits and I think he got the five-second penalty for it. Unfortunately, when switching to the Extremes, he misbraked, spun and hit hard. He was lucky that the race was interrupted, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to keep fourth place,” said Red Bulls motorsport advisor Helmut Marko.
He received the penalty because he was 0.8 km/h too fast in the pit lane. After its second departure on full wets, the demolition allowed the car to be repaired. So lucky in misfortune.
But the time penalty saw him lose the podium, third place, to Pierre Gasly in the Alpine. “It’s a shame we lost the podium because I feel like we really deserved it today,” said Pérez.
What remains are now 138 points behind his teammate Max Verstappen. Pérez (201 points) still has a reassuring lead over his pursuers Fernando Alonso (168) and Lewis Hamilton (156).
However, the Mexican’s performance has repeatedly fueled speculation that he might be sacked following the season despite a contract that runs until 2024. “We still have faith in him, he has to finish this season in second place,” Marko said on Viaplay.
“But he builds up the pressure all by himself. But yes, to be honest, everyone has a difficult life next to Max.”
Team boss Christian Horner was even clearer than Marko. And that per Pérez.
“Checo’s situation for next year is clear,” Horner said. “He’s a driver for Red Bull Racing. We have an agreement with him.” And regardless of that, one is “satisfied with the work he does”.
“He’s second in the world championship. He is the only driver besides Max to have won Grands Prix this year. It’s easy to hit him when the barometer is so high on the other side. But he will be our driver in 2024,” said Horner.
Niederlande GP, Circuit Zandvoort
01. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 2:24:04,411 min
02. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +3,774 sec
03. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +7,058
04. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +10,068
05. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +12,541
06. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +13,209
07. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +13.232
08. Alex Albon (T), Williams, +15,155
09. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, +16,580
10. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +18,346
11. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +20,087
12. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +20,840
13. Liam Lawson (NZ), AlphaTauri, +26,147
14. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +26,410
15. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, +27,388
16. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, +29,893
17. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +55,754
Out
Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Alfa Romeo, Crash
Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, damaged underbody
Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, Crash
Championship status (following 13 of 22 races incl. 3 of 6 sprint races)
driver
01. Verstappen 339 points
02. Pérez 201
03. Alonso 168
04. Hamilton 156
05. Sainz 102
06. Leclerc 99
07. Russell 99
08. Norris 75
09. Stroll 47
10. Gasly 37
11.Ocon 36
12. Plates 36
13. Albon 15
14. Hulkenberg 9
15. Bottas 5
16. Zhou 4
17. Tsunoda 3
18. Magnussen 2
19. Sargeant 0
20. De Vries 0
21. Ricciardo 0
22. Lawson 0
Constructors’ Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 540 Punkte
02. Mercedes 255
03. Aston Martin 215
04. Ferrari 201
05. McLaren 111
06. Alpine 73
07. Williams 15
08. Haas 11
09. Alfa Romeo 9
10. Alpha Tauri 3
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#eternal #question #future
