Sergio Perez admits ‘limitation’ that ruined Red Bull star’s 2023 F1 title dream

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Sergio Perez has now admitted what became a ‘limitation’ for the Red Bull driver as his bid to fight Max Verstappen for the Formula 1 drivers’ championship vanished in 2023.

The 33-year-old started last year on fire with two wins from the opening four Grand Prix. He also won the Sprint to do the double at the Azerbaijan GP. But the wheels fell off Perez’s title aims when Verstappen beat his Red Bull teammate from P9 on the grid to win the Miami GP.

Perez started on pole at the Hard Rock Stadium track but was powerless to deny Verstappen the win. His year then hit freefall as the Mexican crashed in Q1 for the Monaco GP, which he finished in P16. He also failed to win another race and got on just five podiums in 17 rounds.

Max Verstappen could have beaten Sergio Perez to the 2023 F1 title twice over

While Verstappen enjoyed the most dominant season in Formula 1 history and set a new 10-race winning streak from the Miami GP to the Italian GP, Perez was never a threat to his 26-year-old teammate again. They even ended the season 290 points apart in the drivers’ table.

Perez scored enough points (285) to fend off Lewis Hamilton (234) for second in the drivers’ standings. But Verstappen could have won the title twice over with 575. He also got enough points in 2023 to win Red Bull the constructors’ championship alone over Mercedes on 409.

Sergio Perez pinpoints the root cause of his problems at Red Bull in 2023

Perez has now admitted that he endured some ‘really difficult times’ in the 2023 Formula 1 season. The Red Bull star has also explained why he went from fighting Verstappen for the drivers’ title to fighting Hamilton over only second place in the almost all-conquering RB19.

Carlos Sainz was the only driver to stop Red Bull from winning each race in 2023. The Ferrari driver won the Singapore GP to end Verstappen’s record-setting win streak. Perez could only claim P8 after shunting Alex Albon out of the way at Marina Bay and earning a time penalty.

The Singapore GP was one of Perez’s worst weekends of the year with the Monaco GP (P16) and the Qatar GP (P10). He also retired from the Japanese GP after crashing into the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. But Perez pinpoints his problems at losing confidence with Red Bull’s car.

“I think I had some really difficult times for a few months. Let’s put it that way,” he admitted, via quotes by RaceFans. “I went from fighting for the championship to be really on a difficult boat and really not having that confidence with the car. When that happens, it’s really difficult as a driver to really exploit it all. So, that was becoming a bit of a limitation.”