NAPI10 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 01, 2022 3:11 pm
ringo wrote: ↑Wed Jun 01, 2022 7:07 am
lh13 wrote: ↑Sun May 29, 2022 6:54 pm
I wouldn't put my money on him though. Max is a proven winner, his performances in Jeddah and Imola are proof. If Perez can do that over the whole season, then sure, he can win, but if it was any other track than Monaco, Sainz would've passed him, probably Max as well.
Anyway, there's no point in fighting over some that may or may not happen in future. Best to wait and watch. Today, let's just enjoy Checo's deserved win.
Checo just need to do what he is doing to beat Max. He does not need to be faster than Max.
I was attacked during winter testing for saying Checo has a chance. But i could see it based on how he is able to use this car more effectively.
I think he will finish ahead of Max in Baku as well. Max is faster, but that Leclerc fight may make him take more risks setupwise and on the track.
I suspect the team will support checo to be ahead of leclerc but will not allow him to sneak into a championship even if Max has 5 mechanical dnf to give him that chance.
Checo will be a handful in Baku....track which rewarded him with multiple podiums.He will be high on confidence with a victory in Monaco & 2-year contract; add to that a track that is so kind to him.
If he manages to win at Baku; Max will be under huge pressure.
All that any driver has to do, is to get better results than his team mate, consistently to be in the championship hunt. If Perez can do it, good for him and team would have no choice but to put their weight behind him.
Sitting pretty behind the drivers fighting ahead, is not always going to be rewarding and if that was so, Sainz would be in with a shout as well. In a championship season, every contender has had to go through moments of heart break and then tough it out. There would still be races like Bahrain, Saudi, Imola and Miami where the likes of Verstappen and Leclerc would run away and score a 1-2. If not for a failure, Verstappen would have ended behind Leclerc in Bahrain and if not for a failure, Leclerc would have comfortably won Spain.
It's not that it would be only Verstappen and Leclerc who are going to keep getting failures and Perez would take advantage of it. There might be races where Perez might just have another failure or two. Monaco was an exception, than a norm. If Sainz gets his act together and if Mercedes can put some performance in that car, then Perez would have a tougher challenge to out qualify and out race the likes of Sainz, Russell and Hamilton consistently. So yes, if Perez can go out there and beat the drivers in front him in the standings and the others who may have improved form and car in the next 15 races, then he can be a champion and Redbull will automatically coronate him.