The Formula 1 season has come to a close. In his annual end-of-year report, driver and F1 analyst Tom Coronel assesses all the drivers in his unique way. After the top 3, it’s now time for the flop 3 of the past season. Today, we focus on Sergio Pérez, the standout disappointment with the lowest score in the entire field.
Sergio Pérez: 2.2
Tom Coronel: “By far the biggest flop of the season, without a doubt. There are several things I just don’t understand. The gap between him and Max has only grown larger over the past season, which means he hasn’t improved. And I constantly saw him looking for excuses instead of solutions. Furthermore, I can’t understand Pérez’s shelf life at Red Bull. It’s not like Red Bull to keep him around for so long.”
“I can imagine that Red Bull, with a driver of Max Verstappen’s caliber, focuses on one driver, but still: where was Pérez this year? With his experience, he should never have been so far behind. I also missed the ‘bite’, the eagerness in him. It was as if he was fine with everything. Another notable aspect is that, just like last year, he started the season well, but gradually sank. As if the energy was gone, the battery drained. Don’t get me wrong, Pérez is no slouch as a driver, the problem was mainly in his head. We’ve seen him do plenty of good things in the past, but this season we had to search for them, which means it wasn’t good enough. It’s time for a younger talent.
