Perez gives up title fight: 'Want to be second in championship'

For several weeks, Sergio Perez thought he had a serious chance of winning the world title. The Mexican had won two of the first four opening races in '23 and anything would be possible according to the Red Bull Racing driver. Ten races have now been completed and the gap to Max Verstappen has risen to 99 points. Perez now realises it himself: that title is not in the cards for him.

Perez was in Madrid last Saturday, doing a demo through the streets of the Spanish capital on behalf of Red Bull. As many as 50,000 fans turned up to cheer on the Mexican. For his fans, Perez had an unpleasant message: "In Formula 1, only your position after Abu Dhabi counts. But I am not second in the World Cup standings by chance. I have won races. I have had a few bad races, but there is still a lot to achieve. My goal now? That is to become number two in the world. And I only think about the Hungarian GP," Perez told AS.

'Aston Martin has made great strides'

Due to his mediocre series, Fernando Alonso is breathing down his neck in the standings. The Aston Martin driver has 19 points less than Perez. "Fernando is a big surprise this year, they [Aston Martin] have made a big step. But also McLaren in the last race. Everything is much closer together, with these rules."

Currently, Spain has two drivers at teams competing at the top. Besides Alonso, there is also Carlos Sainz, who races for Ferrari. Perez, obviously Spanish-speaking himself, told the newspaper that fans should mainly enjoy the fact that there are two Spaniards competing at such a high level. On who finishes higher in the standings, Perez was clear: "Hopefully the Mexican!"