What Checo Pérez Needs to Become Runner-up
What Checo Pérez needs to become the runner-up depends on himself; it won’t rely on other results, securing the best season of his career.
To become the runner-up, Checo Pérez needs a bit of composure and to maintain the gap with his closest competitor, Lewis Hamilton.
In hindsight, Checo Pérez’s season has been the best of his career, though it could have been better.
Nonetheless, it stands as a milestone in his career.
This achievement becomes even more significant when facing a Formula 1 prodigy, Max Verstappen, who currently dominates the competition from start to finish.
For the Red Bull team, achieving all the goals of a racing team — driver’s champion, constructor’s champion, and runner-up — would signify absolute dominance.
Mexican driver Checo Pérez recently found luck at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil after leaving behind the unfortunate Grand Prix in Mexico.
In Mexico, Checo Pérez was knocked out after a collision with Charles Leclerc in the first turn. He might have already been celebrating the runner-up spot, but for Pérez, it has been a season of tensions, and winning it this way is his style.
The Mexican driver finished in fourth place, just 53 thousandths away from the podium. An intense end-of-race battle for the podium, ultimately won by Fernando Alonso.
What Checo Pérez Needs to Become Runner-up
However, this solid performance allowed Checo Pérez to surpass his main rival in the fight for the Formula 1 runner-up, Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton finished in eighth place, further distancing himself in the points standings, in a race where the Mercedes team made it clear that their end-of-season adjustments haven’t been sufficient.
Checo Pérez currently accumulates 258 points in the 2023 season, while Hamilton sits with 226 points. But for Checo Pérez to become the runner-up, he only needs to maintain the gap in the next race; however, he will still have another chance in the last race.
With only two races to go, Pérez would be enough to finish ahead of the Briton in both races to secure the runner-up spot.
The next stop on the Formula 1 calendar will be Las Vegas, and if the Mercedes driver fails to score any points on that circuit, the Mexican would automatically be crowned as the runner-up.
In contrast, Hamilton would need to finish at least in seventh place to earn six points. A significant advantage for Checo Pérez is his track record on street circuits, like Abu Dhabi, where he usually delivers strong performances.
History awaits Checo Pérez, and it solely depends on him to celebrate and secure a 1-2 for the Red Bull team in the 2023 Formula 1 season.
