'Not To Be Destroyed' By Verstappen In Bahrain Is 'Big Achievement' For Perez Says Marko
F1Wednesday, 06 March 2024 at 10:30
Helmut Marko asserted that the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix was a "good race" for Sergio Perez, who completed a one-two for Red Bull.
Sergio Perez started the weekend with a decent qualifying result. On the one hand, his teammate Max Verstappen ranked four positions better in the qualifying.
On the other hand, the Mexican driver struggled with getting into Q3 during the last season, so starting the race from P5 could be considered a good start.
Helmut Marko recently said he needs Perez to finish second in the Championship with "one or two" race wins, which means he should cross the finish line second most of the time to retain his seat in Red Bull beyond 2024.
Going into the Saturday race at the Bahrain International Circuit, Perez's goal was, therefore, to have a clean race, gain three positions, and bring the car home to complete a one-two for his team, which is exactly what he did.
He lacked more than 20 seconds on his teammate in the end. But, the Red Bull's team advisor suggested, when asked by Motorsport.com, it was because he lost some considerable time in traffic.
"Yes, it was a very good race for him. Don't forget that he was stuck behind the Mercedes and Ferrari cars for a while, but once he was in free air he showed competitive lap times."
Red Bull seems to be happy with Verstappen being their number one, so there is absolutely no pressure on Perez to beat his teammate.
However, Checo's performance can only be measured compared to the Dutchman's (because he is in the same car), so he still needs to be close in terms of race pace.
Although the gap between Perez and Verstappen was almost twice as big as last season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Marko doesn't think he got destroyed and considers it a "big achievement."
"But yes, he has Max as his team-mate. So not to be destroyed by Max is already a big achievement."
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