Sergio Perez believes that there is nationality bias amongst the media in Formula 1, with the Mexican driver a “feeling” that he’s criticised more than other drivers because of the nation he’s from.
The 33-year-old has received significant criticism this season for his inconsistent campaign, which saw him go from title contender, to distant P2 finisher.
After winning two of the opening four races, Perez was genuinely viewed as Max Verstappen’s only championship rival, as the Mexican was driving incredibly well.
However, his season started to fall apart at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he crashed heavily in the opening minutes of Q1.
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This marked the start of a four-race streak without a Q3 appearance for Perez, which often saw him with too much work to do in the races.
His championship hopes quickly disintegrated, as Verstappen embarked on a record-breaking 10-race winning streak.
Being the Dutchman’s team-mate does seem to have gotten the better of Perez this season, with silly driver errors having allowed Lewis Hamilton to close on him in what is now a fight for second in the Drivers’ Championship.
Due to Perez’s mistakes and the fact he’s 177 points behind Verstappen, there have been several calls for Red Bull to drop him at the end of 2023, rather than respect his contract for 2024.
Red Bull are expected to keep Checo for next season, although whether he’ll be offered an extension is unknown.
Perez ultimately feels that he’s not treated the same because of his nationality, with him noting that George Russell didn’t receive much backlash for crashing out of third on the final lap in the Singapore Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver is confident that it would’ve been a completely different situation had it been him crashing out of a podium position.
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“We saw it with Russell,” he said, Perez was quoted by Spanish outlet Marca. “He crashed from third place on the last lap, but you don’t hear anyone talking about it.
“If something like that happens at Red Bull, you immediately have three hundred media channels on your roof telling you that you have to leave.
“This kind of thing happens often in Formula 1 and that’s how it works in a team environment. Also, I have the feeling that the fact that I am Mexican also has a big influence.”