Sky Sports F1 pundit thinks 34-y/o driver must ‘admit defeat’ before 2024 season

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Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok believes Sergio Perez should ‘admit defeat’ and accept simply being Max Verstappen’s No2 driver at Red Bull before the 2024 season.

The new campaign is now just days away with the lights going out to start the Bahrain GP on Saturday afternoon. Formula 1 starts the 2024 term with back-to-back Saturday races in the Middle East. The Saudi Arabian GP, which Perez won in 2023, has also moved from Sunday.

Perez launched his title dream at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit last March by beating Red Bull teammate Verstappen from pole. The 34-year-old edged his at-the-time two-time defending champion partner by 5.355 seconds after the Dutchman came through from P15 on the grid.

Verstappen destroyed Perez’s Formula 1 title dream in 2023

A double-delight at the Azerbaijan GP further saw Perez cement his rights for the Formula 1 title race last year. Perez breezed past Ferrari star Charles Leclerc with DRS to win the Sprint in Baku. He also benefitted from a safety car to overtake Verstappen and win the Grand Prix.

But Verstappen took the wind out of Perez’s sails at the Miami GP by easily winning from P9 on the grid. The 26-year-old nursed his tyres better over the first stint while fighting through traffic. Perez had little fight from pole as Verstappen started a record 10-race winning streak.

Perez’s title hopes then hit freefall as Formula 1 returned to Europe by crashing in Q1 at the Monaco GP. He did not make Q3 at the first five Grand Prix following the Hard Rock Stadium event. The Guadalajara native also only made one podium over that run at the Austrian GP.

Chandhok feels Perez must accept being Red Bull’s No2 driver

Ultimately, Verstappen won his third straight drivers’ title with six Grand Prix and two Sprint events to go. He also scored more points than double the 285 Perez took for P2 in the table with 575. While Perez even described the Qatar GP as the ‘worst weekend’ of his F1 career.

Now, Perez is entering a key season as he is out of contract with Red Bull after 2024. But ex-HRT driver Chandhok believes Perez should not go into the new season dreaming of denying Verstappen another championship. Instead, he should admit ‘defeat’ and be the No2 driver.

“I think it’s a mental shift that needs to happen,” Chandhok told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast. “Listen, you have to accept that being No2 to this guy, there’s no shame in that. There really isn’t. He’s one of the greatest talents ever in F1.

“But that’s a really tough shift to make going into a season saying, ‘At best, I’m going to be second’. It is admitting defeat.”

This is not the first time that Chandhok has said there is ‘no shame’ in Perez accepting being Verstappen’s No2. He also claimed the Mexican playing second fiddle at Red Bull is ‘not bad’ for him last August ahead of the Dutch GP. Perez would only qualify in P7 and finished in P4.