12 Months After Game Changing Crash, Sergio Perez’s Street Specialist Tag Tipped to Put to Test in Monaco Rematch Against Max Verstappen

Do you recall how Ayrton Senna crashed during the 1988 Monaco GP after leading the race for 67 laps? Only goes on to show you that even the best of the best sometimes fail at Monaco. Such is the intimidating walls and barriers of the track which stare at you, waiting for you to make just one tiny mistake, and then it’s all over. Just a year after Sergio Perez’s game-changing crash, the Street specialist tag is going to be put to the test again and Max Verstappen puts his helmet back on for a rematch.

Sergio Perez has been nicknamed the Street Specialist because of his prowess around the street circuits. Regardless, Monaco is a circuit that can catch the best of the drivers out. Ayrton Senna in 1988, Lewis Hamilton in 2008, and Max Verstappen in 2017 & 2018. Even Checo’s street specialist tag could not help him when he crashed at the end of Q3 last year. However, Checo got the pole position, as he had the provisional pole before crashing. 

The 2023 Monaco GP is set to be an interesting rematch between the Red Bull drivers. In the most recent episode of the F1 Nation podcast, Natalie Pinkham talks about how someone told Checo that he’s a street specialist and he rose to stature. However, Monaco isn’t a regular street circuit and is all about building confidence and rhythm over the weekend. She also explains how Max Verstappen, despite being the dominant force that he is, has crashed multiple times in Monaco and might undermine the way he drives this weekend. 

According to the F1 Nation podcast, Natalie Pinkham said, “I’m really interested in this idea that self-fulfilling prophecy exists in sports. So someone tells Checo that he’s a street specialist and he almost rose in stature when he arrives at a venue with a street circuit. Monaco without a doubt is a confidence circuit. You build the rhythm over the weekend through the first, second, and third practice sessions. And you hope that by quali you’re in this perfect groove where you can almost drive blindfolded cause you can almost feel your way around the track.”

Coming to Max Verstappen’s performance at Monaco, she said, “That definitely got into Max’s head earlier in career. So it was 2017 and 2018 when he had those identical crashes and it’s so interesting at a circuit like Monaco ’cause it becomes a bogey track for some and you don’t want that in your head and in any way undermine how you drive through the weekend.”

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With both the drivers being caught out by Monaco in their past, it’s anyone’s game. But for sure Sergio Perez’s street specialist tag will be put to the test this weekend. Only time will tell if he comes out on top. However, the Red Bulls aren’t the only ones challenging for the win, as Tom Clarkson revealed during the podcast. 

Charles Leclerc to pip Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at Monaco

In the same episode of the F1 Nation podcast, Tom Clarkson brought up the GPS analysis of various cars. The Ferrari was faster than the Red Bull in the slow-speed corners and that is what makes up more than half of the Monaco Circuit. And with Charles Leclerc’s blistering qualifying pace, he is tipped to take the pole in Monaco. And coming to race pace, it doesn’t really matter in Monaco. It is all about the starting position and then getting the elbows out. 

According to the F1 Nation podcast, Tom Clarkson said, “When you look at the GPS, and you look at the speed of the cars through slow corners, the Ferrari is faster than the Red Bull through the slow corners this year. And the Aston Martin is equal to it. So, when you look at Charles Leclerc’s record on street tracks, 2 pole positions in Baku with a car that is brilliant through slow corners, I think Charles is my money for pole position this time around.”

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Who do you think is going to win the Monaco GP?