Sergio Pérez swallowed a bitter dose of reality in the Miami Dolphins’ stadium car park. He’s still only 14 points behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen heading into the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this weekend at Imola, but in the US, recent talk of him offering a serious challenge for the Formula 1 title suddenly seemed like the fanciful wishful thinking that it probably always was, such was the emphatic nature of his defeat.
Yes, Pérez had beaten Verstappen fair and square a week earlier in Azerbaijan. In his 13th season in the top flight, the 33-year-old Mexican deserves hard-earned respect as a very good grand prix driver. The trouble is that Verstappen is at 25 already a great one. For F1 watchers desperate for a title battle, Miami was a wake-up call that surprised no one, even after a qualifying mishap that left Verstappen eight grid spots behind his pole-taking team-mate.
As we had seen before, the Dutchman can win from anywhere.
OUTSTANDING VERSTAPPEN
The grid setback only provided an opportunity for Verstappen and Red Bull to once again display their astonishing superiority. Fernando Alonso, starting an excellent second for Aston Martin, predicted it would take until lap 25 for Verstappen to be on him. He was past after just 14, the Red Bull once again showcasing its use of the DRS overtaking aid in a manner that’s beyond its rivals, most notably the Mercedes-AMG. As Verstappen sliced through his prey, Lewis Hamilton laboured to get past the Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri and Haas cars from his lowly 13th.
Verstappen’s rise was one thing, but what really made this special was his consistency and pace on the hard Pirellis. Team chief Christian Horner labelled it “outstanding”, specifically the middle section of his long 45-lap stint. In contrast, Pérez had taken what was supposed to be the optimum strategy of starting on the mediums. He changed to the hards after 20 laps, having found the yellow-walled tyres “initially really poor, worse than expected”. Verstappen rejoined from his stop right on Pérez’s tail and quickly pulled the decisive move. The six-time winner ran side by side with the double champion through Turn 1, but both were noticeably cautious in combat to avoid any team embarrassment. In truth, it was an unequal fight, and Pérez had no choice but to acknowledge that he had been well beaten.
THE NEW INVINCIBLES?
Horner and chief technical officer Adrian Newey dismiss the notion, but Red Bull’s performance level raises the prospect that it might well go unbeaten
