Perez the latest victim, impossible coexistence – Corriere.it

One evening in May, the eve of the Montecarlo qualifying sessions. Antonio Perez, father of the Red Bull driver, jokes with everyone over a plate of spaghetti in the La Salire restaurant and lets himself go: Vamos a ganar, Sergio is driving better than ever.

Hungary, less than two months later: the son comes out of the box for the first free practice session, puts the wheels on the grass, turns around and smashes the car full of technical innovations to test.

In the second round, illuminated by a promising Ferrari (Leclerc ahead of Norris), the Mexican crashed to third last. Five qualifying in a row without entering the top ten, five poles and as many victories for Verstappen, in the shadows yesterday and controversial with the new format on Saturday (obligation to use at least one set of hard tires in Q1, medium in Q2, and soft in Q3): The preparation changes, it limits you in the choice of tyres. In short, he saved money and it would be a surprise if he really struggled today. How surprising it would be to see a Perez in form like the one capable of winning two GPs at the start of the season.

The 33-year-old from Guadalajara is the latest victim of the impossible coexistence with the Dutchman, a eater of opponents but also of teammates. He burned in order Ricciardo, Gasly, Albon (which Red Bull would like, because Williams was reborn). a problem of unattainable talent or a team that can’t handle a sidekick capable of withstanding the ferocity of the number 1? Jacques Villeneuve, world champion 1997, son of Gilles, replies: It was also difficult to be next to Hamilton in the Mercedes. But Max is different: always at the top, a “machine”, not human, he is never wrong.

Unsustainable pressure for those who share garage and telemetry data, Gasly (today at Alpine) he paid for it immediately, destroying the blue car on his debut in the tests, in 2019. Rejected in the current championship, he was sent back to AlphaTauri, to make way for Albon. He too was promoted and dismounted. Perez is now in the meat grinder: As soon as he talked about the World Cup – continues Villeneuve -, Max got angry. And Perez has a huge weight on him, a headache. If he enters that tunnel it is difficult to get out. I don’t think Ricciardo could be the alternative, a beautiful smile on Instagram isn’t enough to get back into an F1. There is Tsunoda with three years of experience, let’s see….

Whoever they should put next to him, Max will do everything to reaffirm his law. at the dawn of a cycle, while Ferrari chases a stage victory and tries to relaunch the transfer campaign. Vasseur, after receiving rejections from the big shots of Red Bull, bet on the French Loic Serra, director of performance of Mercedes, would be a great coup. There is a negotiation underway, Toto Wolff’s team does not want to lose him, or at least wants to slow down his passage. A dispute where legal aftermaths are not excluded.