Red Bull Very Worried: Can Perez Hold Off Hamilton in 2023 F1 Showdown?
Oct.13 - Dr Helmut Marko says he very worried that Red Bull will fail in its mission to finally finish both first and second in a drivers' world championship.
It is the energy drink-owned Formula 1 team's last mission in its utterly dominant 2023 campaign - but the out-of-form Sergio Perez is now only 30 points in front of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton with five races to run.
"On paper, Checo should easily finish second," seven time world champion Hamilton is quoted by Speed Week.
"Whether I can still get close to him matters mostly on him and his performance. But to be honest, I still think I have a chance."
Marko, Red Bull's notorious team consultant, admits he is worried.
"The fear is actually very real," he told Osterreich newspaper.
"Without the crash, Hamilton would have gained another 10 or 15 points," Marko added, referring to Hamilton's clash with his own teammate George Russell in the Qatar GP.
After that collision, Hamilton accepted the blame for a rare mistake.
"Can I please correct that?" Marko told the Austrian newspaper interviewer Knut Okresek. "What is different is that Hamilton is now starting to admit his mistakes."
Finally, Marko was asked about former F1 driver Gerhard Berger's claim for the first time that Max Verstappen is actually "even better" than his own old teammate Ayrton Senna.
"At first, Gerhard didn't share my euphoria about Max," Marko insisted.
"When I first came up with this comparison with Senna, he said 'Enough of that!' But even Mr (Toto) Wolff said at the time that he couldn't see the talent and he signed (Esteban) Ocon instead."
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I'm sure he'll keep P2 until the end.
Unless Checo has a sudden change in his qualifying and race capabilities he may be lucky to finish in 4th place at the end of this season! He is at risk of being passed by both Louise and Alonso! 😮
Ocon , and thats the difference Christian - Inexperienced in F1, just lucky to drop into the Merc Role at the right time , but hes lauded as some "Expert or Guru" in F1, I dont deny you need luck, but i dont buy all the rest
Checo is in a bad place, mentally. Self doubt, worrying about making mistakes. He isn’t enjoying the sport right now. Hopefully, he can maintain second place, but it isn’t in the bag.
My takeaway from this is that RB didn't give a rat's ass about Checo finishing 2d last season when their wunderkind told him to bugger off.
When Max first entered F1 he showed flashes of exceptional driving talent but without consistency and with little strategic approach to the races. He has matured into a very strategic driver that also has an uncanny feel for the balance of the car and ability to maximize that balance to produce the most effective lap time. He has the driving technique at this stage of his career that most reminds me of Jim Clark combined with the in car strategic analysis that most reminds me of Jackie Stewart.
Man, like, now that we got them races down in South America, I’m tellin’ ya, I’m totally sure he’s gonna bounce back, maaan. You know, that home crowd advantage, it’s gonna be, like, off the charts, dude! Hopefully, all them Argentinean fans, they’ll show up and go, ‘Cheer on, man!’
Right on, Bro'. Pass that blunt over here.
It’s Mostly Maui-Wowie, man, and it's got some Labrador in it.
Im suddenly feeling a little off colour here
Keep on knocking, but you can't come in.
Must be something in the air mmmm