Red Bull’s advisor, Helmut Marko, has been notably critical of Sergio Perez’s performance. A few weeks ago, he faced controversy when he linked Sergio Perez’s performance to his ethnicity, a statement that drew widespread criticism and prompted him to issue an apology.
When speaking to Krone, the Austrian news outlet, he mentioned that Checo has not looked good during qualifying, and that has had an impact on him starting far back, making it difficult for him to fight for more points. “Qualifying is Perez’s handicap. We have to defend second place, because Hamilton, unfortunately, is getting closer and closer.”
“Also (Ayrton) Senna’s teammates all went down, Gerhard Berger can talk about that. Senna looked for his challenges, for Verstappen it’s different. Only older drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso would hold up next to him,” he mentioned.
Sergio Perez struggles again to reach second place
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Max Verstappen could be crowned as drivers’ champion this weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix, while Checo Perez will seek to consolidate his position as runner-up in the series, as Lewis Hamilton is on the lookout for any slip-up to snatch second place.
However, there is no time for Max Verstappen to take his foot off the accelerator, who has once again shown to be at a superlative level with respect to his opponents.
Red Bull’s Dutch driver gave a blow of authority to get closer to his third Formula 1 championship, by taking the Pole Position of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Behind Verstappen, the Mercedes got behind, where George Russell (+0.441) will share the first row, and in the second will be Lewis Hamilton (+0.527) with Fernando Alonso (+0.591).
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Those who lived a nightmare in the sunset were the McLarens; since after several minutes analyzing the cameras, Lando Norris had his time erased for exceeding the track limits and after finishing in second place, he was relegated to tenth position.
As for Sergio Perez, the ghosts of qualifying came back to him, who failed again and could not even access Q3, and will have to start from 13th place.
Positions and provisional starting grid for the Qatar Grand Prix 2023
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. George Russell (Mercedes)
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
9. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
10. Lando Norris (McLaren)
11. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
12. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
13. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
14. Alexander Albon (Williams)
15. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
16. Logan Sargeant (Williams)
17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
18. Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri)
19. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
20. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
