One of this year’s biggest questions in deciding the top 50 was whether Perez deserves to be on the list. He’d started 2023 well, with two wins and two second places in the opening four races to hint at giving Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen more than a notional title challenge.
After his Miami defeat, when Verstappen breezed past for the lead, Perez’s season started to crumble. In a car that has proved to be F1’s most dominant since McLaren’s MP4/4, the Mexican struggled to make regular podium appearances, limping to the runner-up position in the championship. The two wins get Perez over the line, but he’s lucky to be on this list.
It seemed that little could stop Perez in Baku. Charles Leclerc got pole position for both races in the sprint weekend, but could do little to stop the Red Bull driver from roaring past on either occasion. Then there was Max Verstappen's ill-timed pitstop, as Red Bull reacted too quickly to Nyck de Vries' Turn 5/6 wall-bang and blinked before the safety car, putting him behind Perez once his team-mate had claimed a cheaper stop.
While leading, Perez suffered a small scare when continuing to ward off Verstappen's attempts to get within DRS range once the Dutchman had caught up. A brush with the Turn 15 exit wall on the 34th lap led to a brief panic, but Perez reckoned that the "really hard" contact had actually knocked the suspension into a slightly better place.
Source: Autosport