David Coulthard left disappointed by 36-podium F1 driver after Bahrain performance

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David Coulthard was left disappointed by the performance of Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez despite his second place in Bahrain.

The Mexican driver finished more than 20 seconds behind teammate Max Verstappen who has picked up where he left off at the end of 2023.

Speaking after the race on Channel 4, Coulthard suggested the 36-podium driver needed to do more with the car he had.

Coulthard left disappointed by Perez after Bahrain Grand Prix

Sergio Perez is a man under pressure with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.

While he’s unlikely to ever match Max Verstappen’s outright pace, he’s required to be the best of the rest every week to help Red Bull secure the Constructors’ Championship.

Perez secured that result with ease in Bahrain but Coulthard was still disappointed with how he achieved it.

The Mexican driver’s issues in qualifying are well documented and he once again had work to do during the race.

Both Ferraris and the Mercedes of George Russell were faster than him over one lap, but Red Bull’s dominant race pace gave him a distinct advantage.

He’s notoriously quick on race circuits and will hope to emulate his victory last year in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

If he does, it will quieten some of the question marks over his suitability to be Verstappen’s teammate for the foreseeable future.

Perez will have a point to prove in Saudi Arabia

Assessing Red Bull’s performance on Saturday, Coulthard said: “It’s a sobering thought for the rest of the competition but look, a flawless display from Max.

“Checo [Perez], a solid position which benefitting from the pace advantage he has otherwise I think that he still needs to be closer to Max in outright race pace.

“I think he’ll be relieved because again there was that sort of four or five-tenth difference in qualifying that could have seen him be off the podium.

“But because they had such underlying race pace, he did drive well, but he was a good seven-tenths a lap on many occasions slower than Max and that just isn’t enough to be or maintain his place in that seat going forward.”

While Coulthard was disappointed with Perez in Bahrain, Christian Horner was much happier.

He hailed a ‘perfect start to the season’ from both of his drivers and it’s hard to disagree after they claimed maximum points.

Perez has been told to ‘admit defeat’ this season and accept that Verstappen is the team’s number one driver.

While that’s likely to be difficult to do, Verstappen hasn’t given him the chance to prove he can lead the team throughout his time with Red Bull.