Sergio Perez has officially finished eighth in the Formula 1 drivers’ world championship. He’s the second driver, after teammate Max Verstappen, to confirm his position.
Verstappen officially won the title in Las Vegas last weekend. But after the Qatar GP Sprint, Perez no longer has any hope of breaking into the top seven.
There are another 52 points on offer before the end of the season – 25 apiece for winning in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and one at each event for the fastest lap. Perez has now fallen 59 behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
The 34-year-old started Saturday’s Sprint from the pit lane after a dismal Q1 exit. Aware that points were very unlikely, he treated it as a test session.
Only the top eight score in the Sprint, giving him 19 laps to scythe through the pack at a circuit where overtaking is difficult. Instead, he focused on improving the car for the rest of the weekend, hence a mid-race stop for a front-wing change.
Those efforts perhaps paid off as Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying in an unexpected turnaround, though he later received a penalty. Still, Hamilton’s sixth-place finish and three-point haul condemns Perez to P8.
Sergio Perez the first driver to finish eighth or lower in title-winning F1 car since Jos Verstappen
Perez made an unwanted piece of history in Vegas when Verstappen was crowned champion. He was the first driver ever to ‘cost’ his team the constructors’ title twice.
And in the latest humiliating record – pointed out by RacingNews365’s Joris Mosterdijk – he’s become the first to finish outside the top seven in title-winning machinery since Jos Verstappen in 1994. The Dutchman partnered another all-time great in Michael Schumacher.
The Benetton driver finished 10th in the standings that year with 10 points to Schumacher’s 92. Crucially, though, he didn’t take part in six races.
While Perez is higher in the standings, he can’t point to those mitigating circumstances. He’s made it even harder for Christian Horner and Helmut Marko to justify keeping him beyond the winter.
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Perez tried to frame the Sprint as a constructive session. But he can’t hide from the reputational damage.
In one particularly ’embarrassing’ moment, Perez was passed by Franco Colapinto on the pit-lane exit. While he insisted this was intentional to afford him clear air, Horner seemingly disagreed.
Verstappen was able to defend his title without much meaningful assistance from his teammate. He didn’t have to worry about the sister car taking points off him either like Lando Norris.
But Jos Verstappen has endorsed Liam Lawson, the most likely replacement for Perez. His voice could carry weight internally given the desire to keep his camp happy.
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