Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff claims Sergio Perez’s ‘fundamental’ flaw at Red Bull

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has explained the ‘fundamental’ reason why Red Bull driver Sergio Perez did not match Max Verstappen in the 2023 Formula 1 season.

This year was a complete whitewash of Verstappen domination as the Dutchman swept up a third straight drivers’ championship. Perez, briefly, threatened to rival his Red Bull teammate for the title at the start of the season. But the Mexican’s dreams of a title evaporated briskly.

Verstappen, ultimately, secured the championship at the Qatar Grand Prix during statistically the most dominant Formula 1 season ever. He won a record-setting 19 races from 22 to post a record win percentage of 86%. Including Sprints, he also led a record 1,003 laps in 2023.

Max Verstappen beat Sergio Perez 20-2 in the Red Bull qualifying battle

Qualifying was often the Verstappen show, as well, as he took pole position 12 times. Perez only led the field off the grid twice in 2023. Single-lap pace was often his downfall with the 33-year-old failing to reach Q3 nine times. He even bowed out after Q1 three times in 2023.

Perez lost the Red Bull head-to-head qualifying battle 20-2 against Verstappen, only beating him in Saudi Arabia and Miami. Verstappen hit trouble at both races with a mechanical issue ruining his session in Jeddah, while red flags denied him a second run in Q3 at the Miami GP.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff explains why Sergio Perez struggled so much

Now, Wolff has outlined that the fundamental reason why Perez was off Verstappen’s pace so often was not down to the Red Bull driver’s skill behind the wheel. Instead, the Mercedes chief believes the Mexican faced the same issues in 2023 as every other driver in Formula 1.

Wolff believes Perez was in the same boat as Mercedes’ drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, in failing to get on top of Pirelli’s tyres. The Silver Arrows boss only feels Verstappen was able to understand the rubber. So, without the tyres working, no driver stood a chance.

“It’s difficult to comprehend that good drivers in various teams have these oscillations of performance,” Wolff said, via quotes by the Mirror. “You’ve seen this with [Carlos] Sainz and [Charles] Leclerc, you’ve seen it with George and Lewis, Oscar [Piastri] and Lando [Norris].

“The obvious one is Perez and Verstappen. Perez is not a second slower than Max. So, what is that? We have seen it swinging in both directions.

“So, fundamentally, I think it’s all around the tyre grip. If you are able to have the car in a sweet spot, a stable platform that you start the work with at the beginning of the weekend, then you can extract performance.

“I think if you’re not [in that sweet spot], there’s just no performance. You’re falling off the cliff, literally. So, I have no explanation for that. I think the only one this year who has understood how to drive these tyres is Max.”