Sergio Perez now told ‘there’s no shame’ in Red Bull driver accepting F1 fate

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Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok has told Sergio Perez that there is ‘no shame’ in the Mexican accepting his situation as the No2 driver to Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

The summer break is finally over with Formula 1 returning to a track at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. But Perez will need a miracle over the second half of the season to deny Red Bull teammate Verstappen his third-straight driver’s title. He trails the 25-year-old by 125 points.

Perez still sits second in the championship with 189 points but Verstappen has blown the F1 grid away in 2023. The back-to-back champion has 314 points and would rank second in the constructor’s championship on his own. Mercedes sit second on 247 points after 12 rounds.

Verstappen has dominated F1 since Perez won in Baku

Verstappen has even won 10 Grands Prix already this year, including each of the last eight in a row. Perez was the last driver to deny the Dutchman a Grand Prix win in Azerbaijan back on April 30. But the 33-year-old only overtook his teammate by pitting under the safety car.

Red Bull pitted Verstappen for a change of tyres under yellow flag conditions when Nyck de Vries stopped on track. Yet race control then brought out the full safety car in Baku to hand Perez a cheap stop. The Mexican then managed his lead to Verstappen through to the flag.

The win in Baku also followed Grand Prix glory in Saudi Arabia to let Perez believe he would rival Verstappen for the championship. Yet after finishing second to the Dutchman in Miami, he only finished on the podium in Austria and Hungary in third and with second in Belgium.

Perez started on pole in Miami, while Verstappen started down in ninth after failing to set a time in Q3. The former Force India hero then only qualified 20th in Monaco after crashing, 11th in Spain, 12th in Canada, 15th in Austria and in Britain and down in ninth in Hungary.

What has Chandhok said about Perez’s situation at Red Bull?

Red Bull will hope Perez improves his qualifying form over the second half of the season. He has enjoyed several tremendous recovery drives. But such is the dominance of their car that the Milton Keynes outfit will expect nothing but Perez in second if Verstappen wins the race.

And former F1 driver Chandhok believes there is ‘no shame’ in Perez accepting being second to Verstappen at Red Bull. The Dutchman is driving on another level to the Mexican in 2023.

“That is the key point for Perez,” Chandhok said on Sky Sports F1 (25/08, 15:04). “There’s no shame in being second to Verstappen. It’s like being alongside the [Michael] Schumacher’s, the [Lewis] Hamilton’s, the [Ayrton] Senna’s [and] the greats.

“Yes, of course you want to beat them, you’re a racing driver. But sometimes in life you get to a situation where it’s like, ‘You know what? If I’m second here, it’s not bad.”