Brundle dismisses Perez’s title credentials

Martin Brundle feels Sergio Perez will not win the World Championship this season as he doesn’t believe the Mexican is “on the same level” as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton – but then again, “nobody is”.

Perez played second fiddle to the new World Champion throughout his first season at Red Bull, finishing with less than half of his team-mate’s points tally come the end of 2021, with a solitary win in Azerbaijan and four further podiums to his name.

He has since spoken of his desire to take the fight to Verstappen within Red Bull this season, but acknowledged that he would have to fight a “war internally” to get the better of his team-mate through the course of the year.

As a result of the difference between the two drivers, along with Valtteri Bottas’ lack of points next to Hamilton last year, Brundle feels that the two 2021 title challengers are a cut above the rest of the field – including Perez.

Pit lane to P5 A first-race charge through the field for @SChecoPerez in 2021 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/K8B2bfwpvn

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 15, 2022

“For a whole season, no, I honestly don’t think so. I don’t think he’s on the same level as Lewis and Max. Nobody is at the moment,” Brundle said, quoted by Motorsport-Total.

“The real question is whether George [Russell] or anyone else can get to that level.”

Hopes are high within Formula 1 that the fight at the front could be contested between multiple teams this season, with Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes all appearing to show turns of pace through six days of pre-season running.

Sky Sports analyst Brundle hopes that will be the case as well, with the reset in Formula 1’s regulations leading to unknowns about the teams’ competitive pecking