Sergio Perez believes that Ferrari and Carlos Sainz were beyond reach today, even if Verstappen wasn’t forced to retire. For the Mexican driver, today will feel like a missed opportunity to secure more points.
Perez started the Australian in 6th place, complicating his chances of a podium finish. However, Verstappen’s retirement within the opening laps created a window of opportunity.
Unfortunately, the 34-year-old lacked the pace to fight for the podium in the RB20.
After overtaking Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, Perez’s performance plateaued relative to the front-runners.
The Mexican driver felt that today’s result was confirmation of the team’s struggles throughout the weekend:
“I think just as a team, we didn’t have the pace today. We didn’t have the pace throughout the weekend.
“We were struggling already from Friday, and we never got on top of the management of tyres. But yeah, we just have to understand and make sure we are ready to improve.
“We already saw last year in a track like this, a front-limited track, Ferrari was a lot stronger.”
The 34-year-old was then asked if Sainz would have won regardless of Verstappen’s DNF. Perez responded, “Absolutely.”
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 24: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Circuit on March 24, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202403240305 // Usage for editorial use only //
SERGIO PEREZ WILL FACE STRONG COMPETITION
Whilst it is easy to assume the Dutchman was destined for victory without his reliability failure, the SF-24 should not be written off so quickly.
Ferrari demonstrated strong race pace in their high-fuel simulations on Friday, which has been a consistent trend for the Scuderia in 2024.
Team Principal Fred Vasseur made no secret of his ambition to challenge Red Bull this weekend. Evidently, the Maranello-based team exceeded this target in Melbourne.
Moving forward, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc should be regular contenders for podiums and even race wins.
Upgrades are expected to arrive in the foreseeable future and build upon the team’s early foundations.
This will make life more difficult for Sergio Perez, with Red Bull still evaluating who will partner Max Verstappen for the 2025 season.
Today’s result in Australia, especially given the pace Yuki Tsunoda is showing, will give the 6-time race winner additional incentive to raise his game.
