33-year-old Formula 1 driver’s reputation has ‘taken a hammering’ this year

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Pundit and former team strategist Bernie Collins has admitted that Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez’s reputation has dipped this season due to his recent performances.

Collins – who now works for Sky Sports F1 as part of their broadcast team – was speaking on the Beyond The Grid Podcast.

There were plenty of interesting storylines during the 2023 Formula 1 season.

There was an intense battle for second place in the Constructors’ Championship between Mercedes and Ferrari that went down to the final lap.

The bottom four teams were all within touching distance of each other going into the final race.

Meanwhile, four drivers finished within six points of each other in the battle to finish fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.

However, one driver who didn’t have a huge amount to compete for towards the end of the year was Sergio Perez.

The 33-year-old won two of the first four races but then witnessed teammate Max Verstappen win 10 races on the bounce.

In the end, he was more concerned with Lewis Hamilton potentially catching him in the drivers’ standings rather than chasing down the Dutchman.

Bernie Collins admits she’s got a soft spot for Sergio Perez because of the time they spent working together, but his reputation has suffered this season.

It’s not easy being Max Verstappen’s teammate and more often than not drivers only last a couple of years alongside him.

Perez is set to begin his fourth year alongside the three-time world champion in 2024, but whether he survives any longer than that is yet to be seen.

Collins thinks Perez’s reputation has suffered this season

Speaking about the Mexican driver, Collins said: “I think his reputation has taken a hammering.

“When we went into the start of the year, he was very strong and I’m surprised how strong he was against Max [Verstappen].

“And Checo, I 100% have a soft spot for Checo because Checo for many years was the person scoring points in the team doing things like the Russia strategy, doing what he was asked of him in terms of strategy, he was very easy to work with in terms of going through the analysis afterwards.

“It was very easy to work with if you had a bad qualifying because he would immediately turn it around and be good for the race.

“He’s not the driver that Max is. Max is a much stronger driver. He’s probably not the strategist that Sebastian [Vettel] was because Sebastian was a much stronger strategist.

“But he was very good at the tyre management stuff.”

As Collins suggests, Perez has a reputation for being incredibly good on his tyres which makes him a valuable asset from a tactical point of view.

Red Bull know if Perez is among the front runners, they can run him long and pit Verstappen meaning their rivals have to decide on their strategy as they can’t cover off both drivers.

Unfortunately, Perez’s performances in qualifying have let him down this year and he’s spent most races trying to make up ground rather than controlling races from the front.

Christian Horner has told Perez he needs to improve his qualifying performances next year.

He’s got the fastest car on the grid, he needs to start making the most of it.