A Decade Later, Max Verstappen & Sergio Perez Recreate Vettel-Webber Red Bull F1 Supremacy

The latest Azerbaijan Grand Prix orchestrated one of the most heartbreaking stories for Scuderia Ferrari, with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz having to retire due to bizarre issues. As for their title rivals, Red Bull Racing, they most certainly couldn’t have hoped for a better result. While Max Verstappen led a dominating race to victory, his teammate, Sergio Perez, picked up the scraps to follow the Dutchman home in P2.

The Mexican did take the lead into the very first corner of lap 1. However, loss of traction cost Perez a load of pace, consequently falling prey to Verstappen’s blinding form. From thereon, it was a rather straightforward race to the chequered flag for the dynamic duo as Verstappen bolstered his championship lead while Perez pipped Leclerc to P2 in the standings as well.

A dominant victory on the whole! And what’s more, Verstappen and Perez have also managed to end one of Red Bull’s longest droughts.

Max Verstappen & co embrace comeback F1 weekend after over a decade

It was back in 2011 that Red Bull witnessed both their drivers accomplish an ecstatic feat. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber managed to clinch an insane 1-2 in the drivers’ standings following the double-podium at the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix. But, quite unfortunately, that was it.

None of the Red Bull drivers had managed to replicate the 1-2 finish for the succeeding 10 years. And here we are, in 2022, Verstappen leading the title race by a comfortable margin while his in-form teammate making his way into the top 2 for the first time in his career.

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What’s more, it is quite safe to say that this particular driver pair is on course to ending more such droughts and crushing more records in the future.

Has Sergio Perez ended Red Bull’s curse?

Over the years, Max Verstappen has held the fort on one end while the other mostly remained unguarded amid frequent changes to the line-up.

Daniel Ricciardo’s shocking departure certainly left an unfillable void in Red Bull, with no amount of changes managing to make an impact; Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon tried to succeed the Australian but only led to the birth of a theory called the ‘second driver curse’.

However, a year after the musical chairs with the academy drivers, Red Bull chose to make an ‘out-of-the-box’ move with Perez. The Mexican did initially seem like he was the third victim of the ever-present curse. But, marching into the 2022 F1 season, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

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Perez is certainly well-adapted and his experience is finally coming into play. Not to forget, the morale-boosting multi-year contract extension. Hence, as of now, the three-time race winner has not only ended the curse but has also dragged himself into the championship fight, pushing his teammate – widely proclaimed as the future of F1 – to the limits. So, will Perez manage to accomplish his greatest F1 desire this year?