Another ex-F1 driver critical of Perez: 'Done 350,000 million laps here'

Christijan Albers can understand why Sergio Perez took so much risk at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix. What Albers does not understand is that the Mexican - despite driving on "his own" circuit - had to concede so much to teammate Max Verstappen.

"I prefer to see this kind of thing, that someone goes for it. That is driver's own thing," said Albers, who started 46 Grands Prix between 2005 and 2007. "I only speak for myself. I prefer someone who goes for it, who tries to defend his position."

In front of his own crowd, Perez scored no points, while World Championship rival Lewis Hamilton took 19 points from his visit to Mexico City. The DNF was an expensive one for the 33-year-old veteran, who had been roughly within three to four-tenths of Max Verstappen all weekend.

Perez brings too little

Apart from the fact that the circuit is only 4.3 kilometres long and there are fewer metres to make up the difference (or lose time), Albers states, "look, I'm not a Perez fan, but that's because he doesn't improve through a weekend, while he has all the data of Max Verstappen. Then I find that at some point in qualifying, the gap is too big. I just noticed that he is not performing well enough and does not have the same performance as Max. That's very clear, he is way too short. He's just not fast enough."

In De Telegraaf's podcast, the former Formula 1 driver continued: "Why is that? It's his home circuit. He has driven 350,000 million laps there. Whether it has been with a normal car, a bicycle or walking. It doesn't matter. He has driven so many laps there. He has a lot of experience there," he alludes to the home advantage.