Sergio Perez Almost Ended Max Verstappen Dominance in Miami; Helmut Marko Deems Mexican “Lucky” in the Race

Remember the 2023 Mexican GP where Sergio Perez crashed on the opening lap going into Turn 1 of his home race? The Mexican’s seat was in danger and ‘Checo’ was just too eager at the start to at least make up some positions and get ahead of the Ferraris. A similar thing happened at the 2024 Miami GP as ‘Checo’ almost ended Max Verstappen’s race. But, Perez was deemed lucky by Helmut Marko.

Sergio Perez’s Red Bull seat for the 2025 season is still in doubt as his contract with the team ends this year. When Horner was asked if Perez is doing enough to get a contract for 2025, he advised that the Mexican needs to keep doing what he’s doing, which was bringing home a 1-2 result. Seems like Checo took that literally to his heart, as he’s been very eager to finish as close to Max Verstappen as possible. 

Sergio Perez qualified P4 for the Miami GP with his teammate on a pole, and the two Ferrari in between. Checo got a great start off the line and tried to dive on the inside of Leclerc and Sainz. Unfortunately, he was too late on the brakes and locked up into turn 1. The Red Bull driver almost hit Verstappen, who was leading the race, and narrowly avoided the Ferrari on his outside. Could’ve been a lot worse for the Top 4.

Helmut Marko has now come out to make comments on the same and how Sergio Perez’s race went. According to Speedweek, Marko wrote, “When Pérez almost caused a crash after the start in the first corner, I thought to myself: “For God’s sake!” It reminded me of Mexico, where the Checo also made such a maneuver in the first corner. Thank God it turned out well, that would of course have been Waterloo if he had cleared Max.” 

Marko then suggested that Leclerc’s poor start lured Checo into making the move and then explained how he got lucky with Sainz’s penalty to finish in P4. Marko added, “The fact that Leclerc did not have a good start has seduced Checo to this action. Overall, however, Checo showed a good race, his backlog was within bearable limits. And he was then also lucky that Carlos Sainz received a time penalty, so he advanced to fourth place, from which he also drove off. It was impressive how he kept Norris behind him in the much faster car.”

Max Verstappen was himself surprised by Perez’s lock-up when he looked at the replay in the cooldown room. And now, a former F1 driver has come out to reveal the possible reason behind Perez’s ambitious move to Miami.

Christijan Albers Explains Sergio Perez’s Turn 1 Disaster at Miami: “Already frustrated that Verstappen is at the front”

How many times has it happened that Max Verstappen leads into the first corner of a race and then drives off into the distance? This is exactly what ‘Checo’ was worried about according to the former F1 driver Christijan Albers. He explains how Perez was worried about Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc losing touch with Verstappen, and by the time he passed the Ferraris, the Dutchman would be a postcode ahead. 

Speaking on the De Telegraaf podcast, Christijan Albers said, “Of course, he could have taken Max out, and he could have taken the two Ferraris with him. He just messed up, but that’s racing. You want to make as good a start as possible. Of course, he is already frustrated that Verstappen is at the front, and he starts fourth. So he thinks: ‘I must and will find that connection with Max, otherwise I will lose him’”

What did you make of Sergio Perez’s move? Was it out of the eagerness to stop Verstappen from running away?