Sergio Perez: A 2020 Season Beyond Expectations!

Although Lewis Hamilton won his seventh career drivers’ title and had a remarkable season with 11 victories for a total of 14 podiums and 347 points in the drivers’ championship, a very honorable mention must be given to the Mexican Sergio Pérez for his overall performance. Having missed two Grand Prix due to COVID-19 (Great Britain and 70th Anniversary), he still finished fourth in the drivers’ standings with 125 points, in addition to achieving his first career victory in 190 Grand Prix at the Sakhir Grand Prix. In 191 Grand Prix, he achieved 10 podiums.

In addition to his victory, he secured a second place at the Turkish Grand Prix. Furthermore, in the end, he outperformed his teammate Lance Stroll by 50 points by being very consistent throughout the season, notably with two fourth and fifth places. At nearly 31 years old, he is at the peak of his career. His maturity and consistency in racing made him stand out more than ever in 2020.

At Red Bull in 2021

Although he was under contract for another season with Racing Point in 2021, the management deemed it appropriate to replace him with the German Sebastian Vettel, four-time world champion.

Surprising decision given the circumstances and Vettel’s difficult season with Ferrari in 2020. Perez is at the peak of his career whereas Vettel has slowed down over the past few seasons. Fortunately, he will be with Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen in 2021. A thunderous duo that could certainly threaten Mercedes in 2021, at least we hope so. The gap between Mercedes and Red Bull could certainly decrease next year as all efforts will focus on 2022.

Due to his consistency on the track this season, Perez could certainly score more points than Alex Albon did this season because of Albon’s lack of consistency, which cost him dearly. Nevertheless, he will still be a Red Bull reserve driver in 2021. It’s a form of compromise to keep the 24-year-old driver within the lineup.

It will be interesting to observe the competition between Perez and Verstappen. Although Verstappen is the number one driver at Red Bull, with a one-year contract with the Austrian team, Perez will be highly motivated to be with a top team like Red Bull, a unique chance in his career that comes at the right time, even though he only raced one season with McLaren in 2013, having previously driven for Sauber and Force India, which became Racing Point. He will want to demonstrate his great talent, and this could potentially cause some friction between the two drivers, possibly why Red Bull signed him for one year to assess the situation. Nevertheless, we can commend Red Bull’s audacity to bring a driver of Perez’s caliber alongside Verstappen.