2023-05-28 16:41:12
Jose Antonio CortesReading: 4 min.
He Monaco Grand Prix 2023 will go down in history as the worst weekend of Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez in his career at Red Bull and perhaps the most unfortunate of his career in the F1.
To have started in place 20; finish in position 16; being lapped twice by his teammate Max Verstappen, who incidentally won the race; two contacts with other cars and multiple touches with the walls, in addition to every possible bad decision were the perfect formula for a disastrous GP for the Mexican.
On Friday he was not in the best position in practice, but on Saturday he made a rare and devastating mistake in the first part of qualifying. At the moment that Checo Pérez hit the barrier in Q1, as he passed in front of the pit exit, he sentenced his fate in the Principality, a track where passing is more of a miracle than an act of faith.
Winner in 2022 in a memorable driving race, paradoxically in 2023 Checo Pérez saw one after another errors, bad decisions and bad luck in the 76 laps he was able to give to the street circuit.
Starting with medium tires and going through the pits to put hard ones and try to take them to the finish line was the correct strategy. Checo Pérez executed a very cautious lap, but then the traffic played its leading role in Monaco.
The first time Verstappen lapped it, Checo Pérez took the opportunity to try the movement on Lance Strollbut cut the chicane at the tunnel exit and had to return the position to the Canadian Aston Martin.
Before returning the place to Stroll, because he had already programmed it with his engineer Hugh Bird, Pérez ran into an untimely braking of Kevin Magnussen, who lost the rear end of his Haas. There, Checo collided with him and lost part of the nose of his Red Bull.
Goodbye, hard tires, forced entry to the pits and from then on the hope of a comeback that would put him in the points was closed.
Then the rain, not the best time to switch to intermediates, a crazy re-entry to the track from George Russell for another strong contact, the use of full rain tires as a desperate gamble and the loss of a second lap against Max Verstappen came. Something embarrassing, a horror movie for the Jalisco pilot.
You can think of other Grands Prix where Checo Pérez, already with Red Bull, abandoned or made a mistake, (perhaps Silverstone in 2021, where he got confused in the Sprint and starting last ended in 16), but the misfortune of Monaco in 2023 it is enhanced because it happens to him aboard the best car on the grid, because it happens to him on a track where he was supposed to win and get closer in the drivers’ championship and because it was time to respond to Max Verstappen.
Today, instead of being less than 14 points behind Verstappen after Miami, Checo Pérez is 39 points behind (here the state of the championship), virtually a victory and a breakaway podium finish after six races.
“What a weekend, guys! It was all my fault,” Checo Pérez acknowledged on the radio once he crossed the finish line of this tortuous Grand Prix.
The only “good” thing for Checo Pérez is that there are 16 races to go, with Barcelona on the horizon next weekend, but it would be unfortunate if instead of approaching Verstappen he starts thinking about not being caught by Fernando Alonso.
Checo Pérez cannot afford more Saturdays out of the front row, much less going out in Q1. His best weapon against Verstappen, who took a turn of genius on Saturday and was dominant on Sunday, must be consistency.
Turn the page, redo, regroup with your share of the garage, because the only drivers who don’t make mistakes are the ones who don’t race. Checo Pérez is still and will be for a long time the best Mexican driver in the history of F1, a bad weekend does not make him less, but as he himself said to the Sky Sports microphones, one more weekend like this and he will have said goodbye to the championship.
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