After finishing the 2023 season 290 points apart, it sounds implausible that Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were once toe-to-toe at the head of the championship order.
But at the Miami Grand Prix, the fifth round of the season, Sergio Perez had a massive opportunity to be the points leader. This would have been for the first time in his 13-year tenure in the sport. Verstappen led Perez by just six points after four rounds, as they were both on a pair of wins each. At the previous race in Azerbaijan, Perez won both the sprint and Grand Prix, with clinical pace in both events.
The Mexican started the Miami Grand Prix from pole. Meanwhile, Verstappen qualified only ninth. He had aborted his first flying lap in Q3 and never had another attempt, due to a red flag.
It was a huge shock as the Dutchman looked serene up to that point, after topping two practice sessions, Q1 and Q2. In fact, Verstappen’s quickest lap in Q2 would have beaten Perez to pole. This showcased how the world champion had missed out on what seemed like an inevitable pole position. It also showcased how the Mexican driver’s execution was at a career-high, in spite of his own pace.
For Perez, it was also a massive reprieve to what he called his ‘worst weekend up to qualifying’. The Mexican had struggled for speed throughout the practice sessions.
The Day That Perez’s 2023 Season Turned:
Despite the inherent pace disadvantage that Perez had to his teammate, many expected him to convert pole position into race victory. In doing so, he would be the new championship leader. But of course, Verstappen’s brilliance denied the Mexican, as he became the first driver to win from ninth on the grid since Niki Lauda at Dijon in 1984.
Verstappen executed the alternate strategy, by starting on the hard compound tyre, compared to Perez on the mediums. The Dutchman ran 25 laps deeper into the race on his starting set. This meant that in the closing laps, after ruthlessly clearing the midfield runners in the first 15 laps, Verstappen (the quicker and more confident of the two that weekend) on younger and grippier tyres, was not going to be defeated.
After pitting on lap 45, it took two tours of the Miami International Autodrome for Verstappen to dispense of Perez. The Dutchman executed an overtake around the outside of its right-handed first corner.
The Picture From Miami Onwards:
Not only would Verstappen go on to win that Grand Prix by just over five seconds, but it also signalled a poignant shift in the tide of both the Red Bull driver’s seasons. In the short-term, Perez would fail to make it into Q3 in the following five races. He would score just a solitary podium finish in that time. Verstappen, on the other hand, would take pole and victory in each of those events. In the long-term, Perez failed to score a pole position or a race victory for the remainder of 2023, while Verstappen would win 16 of the final 17 races.
Embed from Getty ImagesChristian Horner’s Verdict:
Even though Perez was never hotly tipped for championship glory against a seemingly invincible teammate, the stark contrast between Perez’s two race victories (and a sprint win) in the first four races of the season and not a solitary win in the remaining 17 races after the Miami Grand Prix, does point to when 2023 swung away from him. It was, indeed, Miami. Failing to convert that pole position into victory, derailed his progress and set the tone for the remainder of the campaign.
It’s an opinion backed up by his boss, Christian Horner. While speaking to motorsportweek.com, he admitted that his driver missed an ‘open goal’ in the Sunshine State. Horner added: “You could see his confidence was high. And I think that Max winning that race, having been caught out by a red flag in qualifying, starting down in ninth and that he took the lead within a very short period of time. I think mentally that was quite a brutal one for Checo to deal with.”
We will remember the 2023 Formula One World Championship for Max Verstappen’s unparalleled level of dominance. However, the first five races were very much an anthesis to that assertion. While the two Red Bull drivers were initially throat-to-throat, results-wise, their respective trajectories ensured that it didn’t last. And even though Perez helped to secure Red Bull’s first 1-2 finish in the World Drivers’ Championship this year, the now vice-champion will demand of himself, that he recaptures his promising 2023 start into next season and finally return to the top step of the podium.
Unlocking Formula 1 Potential: Is Logan Sargeant Ready for 2024? (worldinsport.com)
