“If I had been Perez, I would have kept my helmet on after that race"- Former F1 driver criticizes Sergio Perez despite P2 at 2022 F1 Belgian GP

Former F1 driver Christijan Albers admitted that he does not agree with Sergio Perez's reputation as a "tire whisperer," emphasizing that he would personally be embarrassed by the drive in Spa last weekend if he was Sergio Perez.

The Red Bull driver was only able to set the third-fastest time in qualifying at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix and started the race in second after pole-sitter Max Verstappen took an engine penalty and started fourteenth. Despite this, the Dutchman was able to gain the lead within the first twelve laps, moving past his teammate who was significantly slower.

Speaking to De Telegraaf about the Belgian GP, Albers said:

“That it’s the deadly combination of Red Bull and Verstappen that makes the difference is painful for Perez. If I had been Perez, I would have kept my helmet on after that race. It’s also nonsense that Perez is a ‘tire whisperer.’ Max has had that under better control for several seasons.”

Speaking about Sergio Perez's improvement and his expectations from the team going ahead, Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko told Sky Deutschland:

“He has definitely improved, but he has to be fully there from the first practice session. Maybe then we’ll manage a couple of 1-2s. That would be the first time we’ve finished first and second in the world championship. That’s our next goal.”

Marko also confessed that Red Bull did not expect Max Verstappen to regain the lead as easily and quickly as he did last weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix:

“It was easier than expected. To be honest, we weren’t too sure of ourselves, but after the first few laps we saw that Max was significantly faster than the rest of the field. The ease with which Max is currently performing these services is incredible. It’s a combination of his self-confidence and the incredible driving class of Max Verstappen. Our engine is reliable and can keep up. Everything is fine at the moment.”

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Sergio Perez admits he is less comfortable with his car now than he was at the start of the year

Red Bull started off the year with a nightmare weekend at the season opener in Bahrain, only to quickly regain their momentum within a couple of races. Sergio Perez confessed, however, that while he accepts that the car has gotten quicker over time with constant developments, he does not feel the same level of comfort with the RB18 as he did at the start of the season. On the other hand, his teammate is on an absolute roll, with a whopping nine race wins to his name so far.

As reported by GPFans, the Mexican said:

“Well, certainly the car has become quicker from the beginning of the season, but I'm not as comfortable as I was in the beginning of the season. It's something that I need to work on, on my side to make sure we are able to get the maximum out of the car.”

Perez also talked about their plans for the car:

“Sometimes things become more natural for you to get the most out of your car, and sometimes you have to work really hard and go very deep in the analysis to make sure you are able to extract the maximum. It seems that we are in that window at the moment. I really hope from this weekend, we run the cars slightly different, so we are able to spot some differences that can bring some performance on our side.”

With his second-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend, Sergio Perez is now up to second in the drivers' standings ahead of Charles Leclerc, who had an underwhelming P6 finish in Spa.