F1 driver endured ‘abject humiliation’ after ‘kidding himself’ with 2023 dream

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Andrew Benson feels the Miami GP was an ‘abject humiliation’ for Sergio Perez as the Red Bull driver fooled himself into believing he was a title threat for Max Verstappen.

BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer has reflected on how Perez talked up his chances of winning the 2023 drivers’ championship ahead of the Miami GP. But when he had a chance to put a dent in Verstappen’s reign, the 33-year-old failed to convert it and came second to his teammate.

Perez arrived in Miami back in May facing a six-point deficit to Verstappen following the first four rounds of 2023. Both Red Bull drivers had won two of the opening four Grand Prix. But, while Perez won the Sprint at the Azerbaijan GP, he could only end the Australian GP in fifth.

Sergio Perez believed he could beat Max Verstappen to the 2023 Formula 1 title

Yet red flags in qualifying handed Perez a huge advantage over Verstappen for the Miami GP. The Mexican set the provisional pole lap with his first run of Q3 while the Dutchman elected to abort his run. But Chares Leclerc’s spin denied Verstappen a second chance to take pole.

Verstappen would start the Miami GP from P9 yet he still came through to beat Perez to the win in commanding fashion. The 26-year-old made light work of carving his way through the field and sat just 1.6 seconds from Perez when Verstappen made his only pit stop on Lap 45.

It took Verstappen just two further laps before he passed Perez for the lead of the Miami GP, as well. The 2021 and 2022 F1 champion then began a record-breaking 10-race winning run en route to his third title. Perez, meanwhile, saw his dreams of winning his first title fall apart.

The Miami GP was an ‘abject humiliation’ for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez

Former Red Bull driver Christian Klien recently claimed Verstappen ‘broke’ Perez by winning the Miami GP. The Mexican followed his failures by crashing in Q1 at the Monaco GP. He also failed to win another race all season and only stood on the podium five times from 17 races.

Now, Benson has also reflected on the Miami GP and claims it was an ‘abject humiliation’ for Perez. He firmly feels the six-time Grand Prix winner should have taken his seventh victory at the Hard Rock Stadium. Yet it proved to be the downfall of his championship dream, instead.

“I never bought into the idea that people were trying to sell in the first four races that Perez was a genuine title contender,” Benson said on the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast.

“He’s just not good enough to challenge Verstappen over a season and we saw that as the season developed. But Miami was the real kick in the teeth for Perez because Verstappen qualified ninth, Perez was on pole. Perez should have walked that race.

“But Verstappen had almost caught him by the time the first pit stops happened. Then he ran long and it was just an utter, abject humiliation for Perez and underlining of the fact that no one was going to get close to Verstappen this year.

“And I think, actually, it was probably what started the downward spiral that we then saw from Perez in the next few races as I think that really hurt him. That was the moment. He’d been kidding himself that he’d been talking his chances up of himself as a title contender.”