I keep hearing that Checo Isn’t performing well.
I see it this way: so far this year, he has had 2 wins, 5 podiums, 2 pole positions, 2 fastest laps, and a 1st and 2nd in sprint races.
With the exception of Monaco, he has finished in the top 6.
Sure, he’s no Max Verstappen, and the team knows that, but he is putting his Red Bull towards the top pretty consistently. He gets screwed sometimes in qualifying, but he makes it up and scores good points for the team.
He’s second in the driver’s championship pretty handily as well.
Maybe I’m missing some context, so I’d like to know what the rest of you think about it.
He’s in a car that should be 1-2 in every race is the problem.
This isn’t unprecidented though. All the way back to 2000, the second driver in the dominant car has had similar performance with the exception of 2014 - 2016 when Lewis and Nico absolutely dominated.
Go back and rewatch those seasons, compare it to this year’s RB plus tires that are better understood and a monster DRS that should have him past most cars without any trouble. This is an easy job for Checo (or should be), I’d wager most of the drivers on the grid would be able to make a 1-2 stick. Marko knows this, Ricciardo in AT is soft pressure to warn Checo he needs to step up or step away.
The fact that he’s stayed 2nd in the championship shows how dominant the Red Bull was in the beginning of the season and how dominant it still is. One thing for sure is that he’s not meeting his targets in qualifying or races. Which is either pole position/winning or being runner up. Top 6 is not where his Red Bull should be. It should be in the top 2. By being in the top 6, he’s letting Aston, Ferrari, and Mercedes pick up constructor points.
You have to evaluate his performance against his past performance this season. If he’s capable of pole positions and race wins in 2023, why is he missing out on Q3 and finishing in the Top 6?
Checo is not performing well at the moment.
I don’t like to dogpile drivers. But Perez is having a shocker when you consider the car he is driving. He’s not got into Q3 in how many races? 6 now? That alone shows how much he is underperforming. How many times has he finished behind multiple objectively slower cars? I was all aboard the hype train earlier in the year but I’m not sure I can remember a hype train derailing in such an epic way (oh wait, Ferrari last year).
If Red Bull were in a tight battle with the constructors Checo would easily cost them the title.
I feel like he’s actually been getting a pass because its not been a tight battle between Red Bull and someone else.
Only recently when he went from mediocre to absolutely abysmal did people start to really notice. Because how could you not.
