Antonio Perez, the father of Red Bull star Sergio Perez, thinks a rival Formula 1 driver is in ‘the best moment’ of their career having thrived with an inferior car so far this year.
The travelling circus of F1 flies to Florida this week for round six of the 2024 term, the Miami Grand Prix. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is the only person to win around the car parks of Hard Rock Stadium so far. The 26-year-old has also won four of the first five rounds in 2024.
Ferrari exile Carlos Sainz is the only other driver to win a Grand Prix in 2024 after triumphing at the Australian GP. The best that Perez has managed with his Red Bull is second in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Japan. Lando Norris also split the Red Bull pair on the Chinese GP podium.
Antonio Perez feels Formula 1 is seeing ‘the best’ of Fernando Alonso
But it is not Verstappen, Sainz or Norris who has drawn Perez Sr’s praise ahead of the Miami GP. Instead, the Mexican has praised how Fernando Alonso has started his second season at Aston Martin. He claims the 42-year-old is driving at his best given where the AMR24 ranks.
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Alonso has not finished higher than P5 in the Saudi Arabian GP so far this season. He sealed P9 in Bahrain, P8 in Australia, P6 in Japan and P7 in China where Aston Martin’s strategy put Alonso at a disadvantage. He strived to battle back in Shanghai after making a third pit stop.
Fernando Alonso is fighting ‘the strongest’ drivers with an inferior car
Aston Martin had taken Alonso to four podiums through the first five rounds of last season, with each being P3s. The Spaniard even stood on the rostrum six times across his first eight races with the team. Yet Perez Sr feels Alonso is actually performing at a superior level now.
“Right now, we are seeing the best Alonso,” Perez Sr stated, via quotes by Marca. “He is in the best moment of his sporting career. Why? Because he does not have the best car and yet he is fighting with the strongest. When he was champion, he had the best car.”
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Aston Martin had the second-best car on the grid at the start of the 2023 term to Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton in the Australian GP plus Charles Leclerc in the Azerbaijan GP were the only other non-Red Bull drivers to stand on a podium through the first five rounds of the season.
It meant Aston Martin left the 2023 Miami GP sat second in the constructors’ championship with 102 points, of which Alonso scored 75 to sit third in the drivers’ standings. Yet he only ranks eighth so far in 2024 with 31 points and Aston Martin also rank in fifth with 40 points.
The post ‘We are seeing the best’: Perez’s dad thinks F1 rival is in ‘the best moment’ of his career appeared first on F1 Oversteer.