Remember how Sergio Perez emerged as a genuine title threat to Max Verstappen at the beginning of the 2022 season but was soundly beaten in the end? Well, fast forward to the 2023 season, history is repeating itself! Although a much stronger Perez put himself within touching distance of the title, things went south again for the Mexican man. After a humiliating defeat in Miami, ‘The king of streets’ crashed out on the streets of Monaco, binning his best chance to win the championship. And now, according to Red Bull‘s advisor Helmut Marko, Perez’s struggles continue as F1 returns to Barcelona.

After labeling Perez’s Monaco crash as a ‘stupid mistake’, Marko fired another warning at the 33-year-old driver after Friday’s Spanish Grand Prix practice. In FP1, while Verstappen looked untouchable by setting a headline time of 1m 14.606s, Perez was eight-tenths of a second behind his teammate. Coming to FP2, although Perez fell back from second to fourth position in the second free practice session, he managed to close his gap to about three-tenths of a second. Seeing Perez unable to match Verstappen’s pace, the 80-year-old Marko threatened to upgrade the car ‘more in the direction of Max’, like they did in 2022. 

Although Perez managed to keep up with Verstappen better in FP2, Marko sees a problem when it comes to Sunday. So, in a conversation with Motorsport Magazine, the Austrian said, “It went better, but he was not able to set consistent lap times. We still have to see if we are going to make further changes, or go even more in the direction of Max (in terms of adjustment, ed.)” 

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Despite questions about his ability to challenge Max Verstappen, Perez reiterated championship hopes after enduring a tough weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix. 

‘I can beat him’: are Sergio Perez’s Championship hopes realistic?

“I am definitely in the fight for the title,” said Sergio Perez after winning in Baku. Giving a push to his Championship hopes, the Imola GP was canceled, making it five street circuit Grand Prix in a row. What better opportunity for ‘the King of streets’ to get ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen and lead the championship standings? However, Perez failed to seize the opportunity as he ended the Monaco weekend pointless after he finished the race in a lowly 16th position.

Nevertheless, explaining why he still believes he can take his first world title in Formula 1 this year, the man from Guadalajara said, “The speed is there and that is the most important thing. If I had also been half a second to a full second behind after this crash, I would have been more worried. We have the speed to recover from this. I watch it from weekend to weekend. So next Sunday I have to show the best of myself and make sure I win. Max and I are evenly matched. Sometimes I’m better, sometimes a little worse. Max (Verstappen, ed.) is probably the toughest teammate you can have. He is the driver in form, but I firmly believe that I can beat him over a whole season.” [translated via Google]

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But given his pace struggles in Friday’s practice session, can he still challenge Max Verstappen on Sunday? Let’s wait and watch.

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Are Sergio Perez’s Championship claims realistic?