Is there any more challenging position in Formula 1 currently then being Max Verstappen team mate? Whether Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon or Perez himself, once the now-double world champion has built up momentum, it’s near-impossible for anyone opposite him in the garage to keep up.
Perez had spent all of 2021 insisting that he would be far closer to his team mate with the old new cars for 2022. And for the most part, he was right.
Immediately from the first weekend in Bahrain, Perez kept within touch of Verstappen, taking fourth on the grid behind the faster Ferraris. He had been on course for a podium to start the season after Verstappen’s retirement, only for his own car to seize on the final lap due to a fuel pump problem.
After licking their wounds, Red Bull struck back with a vengeance in Saudi Arabia. Perez secured pole position – his first, after 215 attempts – denying both Verstappen and the Ferrari pair the top spot on the grid. He held the lead at the start, led the early phase and only lost the lead of the race due to a Safety Car that came at such a bad moment it was as if Nicholas Latifi had timed his race ending crash just to spite him.
Red Bull had brought Perez on board to finally have a driver able to back up Verstappen when things don’t go his way. And when the world champion’s car let him down a second time in Melbourne, Perez was there to vacuum up the 18 points on behalf of his team. There was hardly a sweeter moment for Red Bull all season than Imola, where Perez pursued Charles Leclerc all race, then took advantage of his late spin to secure Red Bull’s first one-two of the season in Ferrari’s back garden.
Despite the season still being relatively young, Red Bull courted controversy in Barcelona after a rare Verstappen mistake saw him slide off the circuit, dropping him behind Perez. Just 19 points separated them in the standings, yet Red Bull told Perez to allow his team mate through not once, but twice. Verstappen’s pace did suggest he was the quicker driver, but the incident did little to convince cynics Red Bull effectively had ‘number one’ and ‘number two’ drivers.
However, in the days prior to the Monaco Grand Prix, Red Bull showed their appreciation for Perez by presenting him with a contract extension until 2024. As if eager to prove them right, Perez appeared to throw himself into championship contention by taking a vital victory in that weekend’s race, thanks to a brilliant strategic call by his team – despite some lingering controversy over the nature of the qualifying spin that had secured him third on the grid over Verstappen the day before.
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As Ferrari self-destructed in Baku, Perez took an easy second place. However, he did so a full 20 seconds after Verstappen had crossed the finish line first. It certainly wasn’t his fault his hydraulics failed eight laps into the Canadian Grand Prix, but it had been his responsibility that he’d started 13th following a Q2 crash on a wet track. He recovered from an early front wing change following contact with Leclerc at Silverstone before taking second place after a three-way battle with Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton that may well go down as the battle of the season.
But after a flash of strong performances following the early phase of the season, Perez would only return to the podium once over the next six rounds. Sometimes through no fault of his own, like at the Red Bull Ring where his race was ruined by contact with George Russell. But at the following race in Paul Ricard, Russell denied him again – poaching a podium from under his nose as the race restarted following a late Virtual Safety Car.
By this point in the season any chance of Perez challenging for a title was disappearing with every passing weekend. There was no better example of this than in Spa, where he qualified third but gained second place on the grid from his penalised team mate. While Perez lost places at the start before eventually moving up into the lead, Verstappen – who started 12 places behind him – caught up and passed him for the lead before even making his first pit stop.
The final phase of the season fell into a familiar pattern for Perez. He appeared unable to threaten the fight for the very front of the field – mainly due to the fact it was being monopolised by his team mate. Mercedes’ resurgence only made the competition at the sharp end fiercer, but despite this Perez still showed that he could battle for wins when he had the chance.
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Following a rare fumble on his team mate’s side of the garage in qualifying, Perez started second alongside Leclerc in Singapore but beat the Ferrari off the line and led the entire race to secure his second win of the season, albeit after surviving a five-second post-race penalty. He also fought hard to take second place on the final lap in Suzuka – with the benefit of Leclerc being penalised for illegally holding position at the final chicane.
With Verstappen securing the championship, Perez would fail to finish ahead of Verstappen in a competitive session for the rest of the season. He was out-paced by Hamilton at home in Mexico and forced to settle for third place. In Brazil, he suffered the embarrassment of allowing Verstappen to pass him, only for his team mate to refuse an instruction to allow him back through on the final lap.
Heading into the final weekend off the season, Perez had an opportunity to clinch second place in the championship. All he needed to do was to finish ahead of Leclerc. However, as he pushed with his two-stop strategy, Leclerc’s one-stop pace on the hard tyres was just too strong and he reached the chequered flag for the final time just over a second away from the Ferrari. While the result meant little, it still would have provided a psychological boost with which to head into the long off-season.
Perez’s second year at the front of the grid was undoubtedly superior to his first. He had no outstandingly poor weekends and had a far better time keeping pace with his team mate. But as the season progressed, he did little to invite confidence that he has a chance of ever sustaining a season-long challenge to Verstappen over his next two years alongside him.
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