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Sergio Perez in Red Bull and Valtteri Bottas in Mercedes. Both are No. 2 drivers to the elite talents on the grid, and both of them are part of very strong teams as well. Yet, while you see Perez very happy with his tenure at Red Bull, in the Finn's case, that was just not the case.
Bottas was somewhat frustrated during his stay with the team and since leaving Mercedes to join Alfa Romeo, he does look rejuvenated. Perez, on the other hand, has enjoyed a very strong relationship with Red Bull, with Christian Horner being very fond of him and admitting it publicly as well.
Two different drivers, in two similar situations. Yet, one was miserable when he went through it, while the other seems to be having a great time. What's the difference? Let's take a look.
Contrasting journey to the top for Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez
The journey that either of the drivers took to reach the top teams was completely different. In Valtteri Bottas' case, Mercedes was a natural progression. He had been part of Williams for a few seasons and had shown tremendous potential. He'd scored some good results with the team and was looking at a future promotion to one of the bigger outfits.
So when his manager Toto Wolff (yes, you read that right) called him up to replace Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, it was a logical career progression for a young upstart. His move to the German team was supposed to be an opportunity to start challenging for wins, winning championships, etc.
In the case of Sergio Perez, it's a completely different path. The Mexican was out of a drive in F1 at the end of the 2020 season. Racing Point (now Aston Martin) had decided to sign star driver Sebastian Vettel, leaving Perez out in the cold. It was at that time that Red Bull came calling after the season finale.
The call from Red Bull was a godsend for Sergio Perez and his motive was to secure that seat for as long as he could. He wasn't going to Red Bull to win the championship. He was going to prove to them that he was worth the hassle and hence secure a long-term future within the team.
A lack of self-assessment from Valtteri Bottas
One of the key traits of an F1 driver is that he is his biggest cheerleader. While the rest of the grid might not think much of him, he thinks he is the best driver on the grid and can beat anyone. When Valtteri Bottas joined Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton, he was still young. More than that, however, he believed he could beat the Briton.
Bottas was even able to do it a few times. As we saw during the partnership, however, the Finn could not sustain that level for long. The drivers that have beaten Hamilton in the past have shown the exact opposite trait of what Bottas was exhibiting against his teammate.
In Jenson Button's case, it came down to realizing he could not beat Hamilton in qualifying and hence concentrated on maximizing race pace. In Nico Rosberg's case, it came down to capitalizing on the weekends when Hamilton was not at his best.
Bottas tried to beat Hamilton in his own game and that is just not what you would want to do against a talent like that. In the end, that led to disappointment, frustration, and disgruntlement to a certain extent as well. Bottas never reset his mindset or changed his approach and hence when it came down to it, he could not achieve what he set out to inside the team.
Sergio Perez came into Red Bull with a target of producing strong results. His goal was never to beat Max Verstappen because somewhere down the line he knew where he stood in the pecking order and where his teammate was. Having those expectations made his role within the team much clearer and Perez thrived due to that.
Red Bull's approach has been very transparent, while Mercedes left things a bit open-ended
On the very first day Sergio Perez walked into the team, Red Bull's target for him was to get within striking range of Max Verstappen, not to beat him. Verstappen had demolished teammates that came before Perez and the team was quite open in setting a target for the Mexican that did not involve doing anything beyond his gifts.
Perez knew he was second in line at Red Bull until he showed he could beat Verstappen. He also knew that he had to gain the team's trust and that does involve him holding up Lewis Hamilton at various points in the race. This was something Red Bull had been very transparent about with Sergio Perez even before he joined the team.
Valtteri Bottas, on the other hand, was hailed as a championship contender by Toto Wolff, someone who was going to be given an equal opportunity to fight for the title. There weren't that many open conversations about Bottas playing a supporting role once he was out of contention and whatnot. This was one of the reasons why it did not go down well with Bottas when he had to sacrifice his race on multiple occasions to help Hamilton. Especially because that was not what he expected when he stepped into the team.
In the end, the drastic difference in demeanors between Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas comes down to the expectations and aspirations both drivers had while stepping into the team. Perez was just thankful to be there while Bottas wanted to achieve things that were impossible with Hamilton in the other garage.
Often in life, it's Expectations vs Reality that determines happiness and that is primarily the difference between Sergio Perez enjoying his time at Red Bull but Valtteri Bottas going through a stressful tenure at Mercedes.
