Whilst Max Verstappen has been able to run away with the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, many can be forgiven for forgetting that before this year’s Austrian Grand Prix, just thirty-four points separated Verstappen and his Oracle Red Bull Racing team-mate, Sergio Pérez, in the Drivers’ Championship.
Pérez had claimed victory at the Monaco Grand Prix and also had a handful of second-place finishes to his name, allowing the Mexican driver, at the time, to be very much involved in the championship fight.
In the round prior to Austria, at Silverstone, Verstappen endured one of his toughest days out on track as he came home for a seventh-place finish, whilst Pérez was able to claim the second spot on the podium and reduce Verstappen’s lead in the championship by eleven points.
In a recent interview with the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com, Pérez revealed that after his strong start to the season, he firmly believed that he was in the fight for the championship.
“I think I had a really good start, I was in the fight for the championship. There were a couple of races where I struggled with the car and that cost me the most points and the chance to keep fighting for the championship.”
The very next race at the Red Bull Ring, Pérez entered with a chance to further reduce Verstappen’s lead in the championship, but it would ultimately prove to be a fatal weekend for his championship hopes. The Mexican attempted an overtake on George Russell around turn four on the opening lap, but contact between the two would see the Red Bull driver heading off into the gravel. Pérez would attempt to continue, but the damage sustained to his RB18 would stunt any progress and see him retire on lap twenty-six.
Verstappen would go onto claim a second-place finish around the Red Bull Ring, allowing him to leave Austria with a fifty-seven point lead over his Mexican team-mate. Perez detailed how he knew his championship hopes were over after his retirement in Austria.
“I think Austria, that’s where I got hit by George. We were closest in the championship and that was a massive blow, and from there we had a couple of races that were difficult for us.”
Verstappen would go onto assert his dominance over the rest of the field in 2022 after Austria, as the Dutchman would win the next five races to set him on-course to his second World Championship. Pérez spoke on how the upgrades to the RB18 after Austria appeared to be more geared to benefiting Verstappen than himself.
“I think probably so. There are times when some upgrades are more or less beneficial and come with the handling. We’ve seen that with a lot of other drivers and I think the way we developed the car was more in Max’s direction. But as a team, we managed to understand that well and I really hope together we can avoid these things in the future.”
