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Red Bull hopes its long search for the right Formula 1 team-mate for Max Verstappen is over with the signing of Sergio Perez.
But while there has been much discussion about how Perez will fare up against Verstappen, less has been said about the way the combination of the two will fare overall.
Multiple factors dictate how well a team-mate partnership gels. Perez is perceived as an excellent support act to Verstappen’s leading role, but the strong number two needs to be quick and must also make a decisive all-round contribution to the team. Complementary skills are important with driver pairings.
Both are grand prix winners with plenty of experience, a combined total of 16 seasons, 10 of those for Perez.
Verstappen is well-ensconced in a Red Bull team that’s built around him, while Perez brings a proven track record as one of F1’s leading midfield performers in recent years.
Verstappen so often felt like a lone soldier last year thanks to Alex Albon’s struggles, so has straightforward expectations for Perez.
“I’m expecting him to do a good job like he has done throughout his career,” said Verstappen.
“I’m excited to be working with him and I hope we can bring the team a lot of points.”
Scoring heavily is obviously significant for the constructors’ championship, but Verstappen will also be keenly aware of the need to have a team-mate who can take points off a title rival should the Red Bull RB16B be strong enough to challenge for the title.
But Verstappen also hit on another important point in the experience Perez brings, specifically knowledge of the Mercedes power unit.
“Max will be a massive benchmark in qualifying. I see my strength on Sunday, racecraft and race pace” :: Sergio Perez
“Mainly the information from the years he has done at another team, different power unit, stuff like that” said Verstappen when asked by The Race what he sees Perez offering the team off-track.
“He can transfer to the team his findings and the difference. I hope it can help the team or at least give them some different ideas about a few things.”
Verstappen isn’t referring to design secrets, but an indication of relative strengths and any insight into energy management strategies can be of use.
Perez’s legendary mastery of tyre management through the way he compromises the corner entry and modifies lines on long race stints could also be beneficial to Verstappen.
While Verstappen’s tyre understanding is a strength, founded upon some intensive work done during his Toro Rosso days, there’s always room for improvement. Given this is an area where Lewis Hamilton excels, any marginal gains here for Verstappen will be a boost.
What Perez lacks compared to Verstappen is qualifying pace. He’s a decent enough qualifier but it’s never been his strongest suit in F1. That’s his race drives. Verstappen, despite having only three pole positions to his name, excels in qualifying.
Perez also isn’t afraid to confront this head on. Asked about the combination of the two drivers by The Race, he immediately points to Verstappen’s qualifying effectiveness.
“Max is going to be very strong in qualifying,” said Perez. “He will be a massive benchmark in qualifying.
It would be over-simplifying to see Verstappen as the hare and Perez the tortoise, but they offer a range of strategic combinations unavailable to Red Bull lately
“I see my strength on Sunday, racecraft and race pace. So I think that’s a pretty good match that hopefully delivers the maximum.”
It would be overstating it to take that as a concession of imminent Saturday defeats, but the inescapable fact is that Perez isn’t there to battle Verstappen in qualifying. But he needs to be significantly closer than either Albon or Pierre Gasly were able to be, inside the often-cited three-tenths.
That should be perfectly achievable for Perez, provided he can adapt his driving style to the more pointy Red Bull handling style that Verstappen can extract prodigious pace from.
QUALIFYING COMPARISON
All comparisons made only with directly comparable circumstances (ie not including mechanical problems, wet qualifying, different specs etc)
VERSTAPPEN TEAM MATES AT RED BULL 2016-2020
2016 6-9 down to Ricciardo (pictured below) but only 0.052s slower
2017 7-6 up on Ricciardo by just 0.064s
2018 8-3 up on Ricciardo by 0.121s
2019 11-0 up on Gasly by 0.56s
8.5-0.5 (set identical times Suzuka) up on Albon by 0.427s
2020 16-0 up on Albon by 0.494s
PEREZ TEAM MATES AT RACING POINT 2016-2020
2016 9-9 with Hulkenberg but ahead by 0.015s
2017 10-5 up on Ocon by 0.058s
2018 8-10 down to Ocon but by just 0.005s
2019 18-1 up on Stroll by 0.264s
2020 6-5 up on Stroll by 0.16s
The above statistics show how strong Verstappen’s qualifying record has become, but also Perez’s pace compared to some quick team-mates.
This suggests Perez should be able to start consistently on the front two rows of the grid, something Albon only did four times in last year’s 17 races.
Provided he does so, this could create some interesting strategic opportunities for Red Bull. Perez’s capacity for marathon stints on tyres means he can pull off a wide range of strategies, certainly more so than Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes as he struggles in more tyre-critical races.
It would be over-simplifying it to suggest that Verstappen would be the hare and Perez the tortoise, primarily because both are capable tyre managers and very quick, but it offers a range of strategic combinations unavailable to Red Bull for the past two years.
That means not only can strategic bets be hedged, but it will be easier to ask serious questions of Mercedes with two cars in play.
The other question is how well the pair get on off-track. Verstappen and Perez weren’t known as especially close before this season despite being on good terms, but they also weren’t especially antagonistic despite occasional clashes such as on the first lap of last year’s Portuguese Grand Prix.
But as Verstappen says, “with Checo I always got on very well anyway, so it’s a very relaxed and good relationship”.
That said, Perez has occasionally had a fractious relationship with his team-mates, specifically with Esteban Ocon in 2017-18 – although Verstappen might see that as a positive given the historic difficulties between him and the man now at Alpine.
All of this should add up to a well-balanced line-up. The only potential problem could be if they cross swords on track, especially with Perez knowing he has much to prove given he’s only on an initial one-year deal with Red Bull.
But his first priority is to ensure that he’s performing as a strong number two. If he does that, the pairing could prove to be a powerful weapon for Red Bull not just in 2021, but for some years to come.
