On paper, Sergio Perez was a shoo-in for a slot in our high ten F1 drivers of 2023. He was one in every of two not named Max Verstappen to win a race and he completed second to the Dutchman on the planet championship.

And but, he is not made the lower on ESPN’s listing, which you’ll learn in full right here. It is in fact totally subjective, however the reality this query is even open for debate highlights the type of 12 months Perez had. His type was so erratic that a lot of the narrative round him was whether or not he would nonetheless be driving for Pink Bull in 2024. He will likely be, however that query will likely be lingering proper on the floor subsequent 12 months.

Was his season actually dangerous sufficient to not be thought-about high ten? As at all times, this stuff are about context. There is a key caveat within the listing compiled by my colleague Laurence Edmondson earlier this month that the rankings are “based mostly on the automotive they’d at their disposal, the stage they’re at of their profession and the expectations they confronted going into the season,” so let’s break it down like that.

Editor’s Picks

The automotive at his disposal

That is maybe probably the most damming a part of Perez’s 12 months. The RB19 will go down as probably the most dominant automotive in trendy F1 historical past – beforehand one-sided seasons of Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton pale compared to what Verstappen achieved. Perez was blessed with one of many most interesting F1 automobiles any group has in-built latest reminiscence however completed with half the factors tally of his teammate. Whereas Pink Bull celebrated constructors’ championship success, Verstappen’s outcomes would have gained it single-handedly.

You could possibly argue Verstappen’s unbelievable type made the RB19 look higher than it was, however the margin of a lot of his wins confirmed how a lot tempo there was to seek out. Whereas Verstappen could effectively have gained the identical variety of races alongside an in-form Perez, his teammate ought to have been on the rostrum most weekends. From his second and remaining win in Baku onwards, Perez visited the rostrum simply six occasions — in the identical timespan, Lando Norris had seven podiums, whereas Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had 5 every, the three of them doing so in automobiles inferior to the RB19.

For no matter purpose Perez simply could not get on high of it. The Mexican driver’s issues gave the impression to be rooted in qualifying, the place poor performances typically put his RB19 out of place and compelled him to play catch up within the race. A heavy crash in qualifying on the Monaco Grand Prix, a race he gained 12 months prior, summed up the season that was to observe, leaving him with the prospect of a irritating Sunday forward.

The stage he is at in his profession

Perez is likely one of the most skilled drivers on the grid with 257 begins — solely Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have began extra races — and it was shocking to see his 12 months disintegrate so dramatically and quickly. Positive, Verstappen has turn into the final word teammate killer on the grid, with Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon each struggling to match him of their stints in the identical automotive. You can too level to how the outcomes shifted in the direction of Verstappen and away from Daniel Ricciardo within the latter a part of 2018, after the Australian had confirmed his intention to drive elsewhere the next 12 months. However, as one of many grid’s longest serving drivers, Perez is at a distinct level in his profession to all three of his predecessors in his seat and extra was anticipated from him because of this. Perez by no means received himself out of the downward spiral he hit from Monaco onwards. His mistake at first of the Mexican Grand Prix regarded extra like an over-eager younger driver than one of many grid’s elder statesmen.

Earlier than Pink Bull, Perez made a behavior of overperforming in automobiles that had been typically troublesome to drive, studying endurance and honing his race craft with equipment which for therefore lengthy didn’t give him an opportunity to win. Whereas Gasly and Albon’s poor type immediately led to large pinchpoints of their respective careers, they might each argue they’d been promoted sooner than Pink Bull supposed and earlier than they had been essentially prepared for the problem. Each have rightly been given a second likelihood elsewhere. On the flip facet Perez’s alternative with Pink Bull was overdue and he waited his entire profession to drive a automotive nearly as good as he had in 2023 and, after his good begin, he squandered it.

The expectations

Very similar to Valtteri Bottas with Hamilton, Perez anticipated (or hoped to) take the battle to Verstappen in 2023. As a substitute, we had one of many dullest and one-sided F1 championships in historical past, which maybe colors a few of what has been written right here. Verstappen possible would have gained the championship earlier than the Abu Dhabi finale however Perez had the automotive, and, importantly, has the expertise, to have not less than made the title battle right into a spectacle of some sort.

Even earlier than his transfer to Pink Bull for 2021, Perez had made a reputation for himself as one in every of F1’s most proficient, when it comes to race craft and tyre administration. His type has been up and down within the three seasons since, however at first of the 12 months there was a way that Perez merely wanted to get some momentum going and accumulate outcomes — in different phrases, maintain himself within the hunt, like Nico Rosberg did efficiently in 2016 versus Hamilton.

Fortunately for Perez, one of many greatest believers in his expertise is Pink Bull, which was evidenced by how strongly they caught by him by the bottom moments of 2023. On his day he stays one of many higher drivers on F1’s grid, one thing he demonstrated in an excellent, and honest, wheel to wheel duel with Fernando Alonso through the Brazilian Grand Prix. However that battle wasn’t at all times there — he meekly surrendered the win to Verstappen in Miami and let over-eagerness get the higher of him when a robust end result was on the desk at his residence race in Mexico.

How did the remainder look?

We hadn’t forgotten in regards to the different half of the grid — this is a rundown of the place we felt the remaining drivers sat after this season.

11. Sergio Perez – See above.

12. Pierre Gasly – A good first 12 months for Alpine capped with a podium on the Dutch Grand Prix, however discovered himself caught within the midfield with the automotive he had. Gasly’s qualifying type towards Esteban Ocon places him simply forward of his teammate.

13. Esteban Ocon – Like Gasly, Ocon’s excessive level was a podium (in Monaco) however in the end he and the group had been unable to copy among the excessive factors of earlier seasons in what was one other tumultuous 12 months behind the scenes.

14. Daniel Ricciardo – After a preferred return with AlphaTauri he was unfortunate to interrupt his hand at Zandvoort simply when he was constructing momentum. His excessive level was an excellent seventh place end in Mexico, however he simply did not drive sufficient races to characteristic increased.

15. Liam Lawson – The Kiwi impressed as Ricciardo’s stand-in and the largest praise you possibly can pay to his five-race stint within the automotive is that he by no means regarded misplaced, even on the moist Dutch GP, the place he changed Ricciardo earlier than qualifying. He was unfortunate to not be given a full-time race seat and needs to be on the radar of a number of groups for 2025.

16. Nico Hulkenberg – Confirmed no indicators of rust after three years away and impressed, when he might, within the sluggish and temperamental Haas automotive. He comfortably out-qualified teammate Kevin Magnussen throughout the 12 months.

17. Valtteri Bottas – We all know what Bottas can do on day however Alfa Romeo’s automotive simply wasn’t aggressive sufficient for him to point out it, ending the 12 months with only a handful of factors to his identify.

18. Zhou Guanyu – After a patchy rookie season, Zhou didn’t kick on in his sophomore season as many would have hoped. He retained his seat for 2024 however might want to produce extra constantly to stay past that.

19. Lance Stroll – Deserves credit score for a way he got here again from a preseason coaching damage with out lacking a race, however was totally demolished by Fernando Alonso in what was a aggressive automotive for vital chunks of the 12 months. He scored zero podiums to the Spaniard’s eight and may have scored much more factors. Stroll continues to appear to be probably the most obvious weak spot of the group owned by his father.

20. Kevin Magnussen – Pretty nameless for a lot of the 12 months and located himself out-performed by a teammate returning after three years out. Coming off the again of his standout 2022 marketing campaign his season was disappointing.

21. Nyck De Vries – Whether or not you agreed along with his sacking or not, in 11 races De Vries did not persuade Pink Bull he had been the proper man to signal for AlphaTauri. Given how his season ended it is unattainable to place him wherever however on the rear finish of this listing.

22. Logan Sargeant – Was fortunate to retain his seat for 2024 and, not like De Vries, was given a complete season and nonetheless didn’t present indicators of main enchancment. The Floridian didn’t out-qualify teammate Alex Albon a single time. Williams pointed to Sargeant’s gutsier shows later within the 12 months as a purpose for preserving him however he was additionally fortunate by the shortage of real looking choices on the group’s disposal. He’s one other beneath enormous strain to carry out subsequent 12 months.