Sergio Perez Piles Millions More to Charles Leclerc’s $12 Million Ferrari Deal Despite Red Bull F1 Dominance

F1s’ 2022 season has come to an end with its grand finale in Abu Dhabi. The Yas Marina Circuit race saw multiple incidents and, amid all those, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez’s tussle was arguably the most interesting, as it had millions in bonuses at stake.

The last race of the season wrapped up in a brilliant fashion. From Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton’s DNF to Daniel Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher’s last showing for at least a while, there was everything to count for. Moreover, the last-lap tussle between retirement-bound Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo put the cherry on top. Still, the best battle was possibly Leclerc vs Perez.

The last race of the season meant everything for the Monegasque, as he was expected to receive millions in bonuses from Ferrari if he could hold on to P2, which, of course, he did. Talking about this, in a recent interview ahead of Sunday’s race, George Russell revealed, “We found out Thursday night that Charles [Leclerc] has got a little bonus in his contract if he gets P2 in the driver’s [standings].”

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The Mercedes driver revealed this as he stood beside McLaren driver Lando Norris during the Sky Sports interview. This means the Ferrari driver is to take home millions from bonuses, besides his $12 million a year salary from the Italian team after Perez failed to overtake him before the chequered flag.

How did it all look for Charles Leclerc until the end?

The last few races saw Red Bull’s Sergio Perez close the gap for P2. On the other hand, a few DNFs and lowly finishes from the Monegasque saw him getting caught by the Mexican. In the end, after the Brazilian Grand Prix, the two drivers were level pegging on points and it was a ‘winner take all’ situation in Abu Dhabi.

With 290 points each, both Leclerc and Perez needed to finish ahead of each other. For Red Bull, Perez finishing in P2 meant they could finish the driver’s championship with 1-2 after already winning the constructors trophy for the year.

Even though Ferrari lost their chance to Red Bull, a P2 in the driver’s championship would not be a bad finish overall. Having solidified their P2 in the constructors’ championship over Mercedes, that was all they needed.

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The Leclerc vs Perez for P2 in the driver’s championship was the talk of the town for the last three race weekends. With Max Verstappen already wrapping up his title in Japan, the P2 position was for the taking. Leclerc, who was initially a championship candidate, went right against Verstappen’s teammate Perez for it.

Who do you think deserved the P2 spot in the WDC more? Was it Leclerc? Or was it Perez?