Since he arrived in Formula 1 and beyond his remarkable speed, Sergio Pérez has stood out above the rest of the drivers for one of his most recognized facets in his career; tire care. However, with Pirelli’s new 18-inch tyres, it seems that something has changed, at least at Red Bull.
Helmut Marko , the main adviser to the Austrian team, analyzed the Saudi Arabian GP race, where Checo started from pole, and denied that without the presence of the safety car, the Mexican driver would have won the race: “People say that Ferrari It forced us to make a pit stop sooner than expected, but it didn’t happen. Perez’s tire wear was significantly higher than Max’s.”
“Perhaps that had something to do with Perez’s pace in the first phase of the session, before stopping he was three seconds ahead of Max. Afterwards, on the hard tyre, Max was noticeably quicker and again more careful than Perez, so any issues would have resolved themselves on track,” Marko said.
Despite this unexpected change, the 78-year-old Austrian believes that Sergio Pérez will be able to get a little closer to Max Verstappen this year thanks to the new technical rules.
“If you look at all the teams, you see that the rules have had different effects. Some drivers have come closer, and others, like at Ferrari, the other way around.”
“I think there are two key factors for Perez. Firstly, this car suits him better and he feels a bit more comfortable. Secondly, he and the team know each other much better now than a year ago. There is a lot more trust in each other. In general, We are very happy with this development.”
At the moment and after the first two races of the 2022 season, Verstappen is ahead of Pérez in the drivers’ standings, with a total of 13 more points, however, the campaign has only just begun, so from Red Bull say it’s still too early to make team orders if they’re both on track.
“It was clear before the race [in Jeddah] that no rules would be put in place, especially not so early in the season and with both drivers on zero points. And during the race you saw that the problem could solve itself.” Marko concluded.
The next race of the course will take place next weekend, an Australian Grand Prix that returns to the Formula 1 calendar after two years of absence with changes to the Albert Park layout, which will be released from the 8th to the 10th of april.
