“Was Suddenly Labeled a Loser”: Sergio Perez Opens Up on His Difficult Dry Spell as Max Verstappen’s Dominant Form Continues to Mount Pressure

There might have been different FIA officials who waved the chequered flag in the last 4 races. But the 1st car that they see passing them and taking victory has been Max Verstappen. If one RB19 can be so quick, what’s wrong with the other one? Sergio Perez has been more than struggling in the fastest car on the grid. His Qualifying performance in Austria was even worse, with him not able to keep it within the white lines. Then, he blamed it on Alex Albon. But, he has finally revealed the real reason and the harsh treatment he receives at Red Bull.

Over the last few race weekends, Verstappen and Perez have had performances that are poles apart. Verstappen racked up his 4th consecutive pole position on Friday and Perez, his 4th consecutive Q2 knockout. His poor run continued. In comparison to Verstappen’s mastery over the RB19, Perez started looking like an amateur driver.

In his latest interview at the Austrian GP, the Mexican racer opened up on Red Bull’s toxic culture. Perez said, as quoted by bild.de, “I was suddenly labeled a loser by the race winner in the last few weeks. It wasn’t easy for me to put it away. Every one of us drivers has a phase like this, but when you drive for Red Bull, everything is always much worse. I don’t feel good right now.”

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Perez knows that he is in a bad phase. But, his performance in the sport’s latest format on Saturday comes as a silver lining.

Sergio Perez Hints At a Comeback After Strong Sprint Showing

Sergio Perez showed his high caliber after winning two races at the beginning of the season. While it might have gone downhill from there, the Sprint shootout and Sprint race indicate the graph turning upward again.

The Mexican racer has been constantly compared to his overachieving teammate, and that will continue. Because of the comparisons, he was labeled a bad and amateur driver. But, after his Sprint performance, he had something to say about the same. Perez said, as quoted by Reuters, “I haven’t lost it, you know, you don’t go from winning races to all of a sudden being a very bad driver.”

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Could this be the performance that thrusts Perez back into the zone of confidence? All such questions will be answered when he begins the uphill climb from P15 at the Red Bull Ring today.