Sergio Perez Slammed With Statement From Arnoux: 'He Often Disappears'
F1Wednesday, 03 April 2024 at 11:00
Former F1 driver and a seven-time Grand Prix winner Rene Arnoux criticized Sergio Perez in one of his latest interviews, saying he's "a number 2, sometimes number 3."
During the most recent race of the 2024 season in Australia, Ferrari ended Red Bull's winning streak, which the Austrian team carried from last year's Japanese Grand Prix.
The Australian Grand Prix was a weekend that belonged to Carlos Sainz, who underwent surgery only two weeks before it and shouldn't have recovered early enough to participate in that race.
Yet, he managed to recover, and not only did he participate, he scored P2 in qualifying and went on to win the race. Rene Arnoux liked the Spaniard's performance, as he told La Gazzetta dello Sport:
"[Ferrari] had a great race. Sainz was really perfect in how decisive he was. And in general the car was competitive both in qualifying and in the race."
"Of course, we missed Verstappen because of a technical problem, but Ferrari was good to be there, they made the most of the weekend."
While it isn't clear whether Scuderia would have been able to beat the Dutchman had he participated in the race, Arnoux believes the team from Maranello is becoming stronger and stronger.
"After all, we knew from the first GP that the car is much better than the one from 2023. It's much closer to Red Bull, we had full confirmation of that in Australia. Not quite at Red Bull's level yet, but almost."
The former F1 driver believes that Sergio Perez might cause Red Bull some trouble this season as he isn't matching the pace of his teammate.
"But then it's also true that Red Bull only has one car in front. Because Perez is a number 2, sometimes 3. He often disappears."
The Mexican driver struggled, especially during the last season, but he has been quite consistent so far in 2024. He achieved two second-place finishes, and in Australia, his pace was hindered by unfortunate circumstances, which meant he finished fifth, but his team still believed he did a great job.
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