Sergio Perez reminded everyone why he's Max Verstappen's 'perfect teammate' with 2022 F1 Singapore GP win

Two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen praised Sergio Perez for his stellar win at the 2022 F1 Singapore GP. The Finn claimed that Perez's win at the Marina Bay circuit showed that whenever Max Verstappen doesn't win, the team can rely on the Mexican to take his place.

Hakkinen called Perez the 'perfect teammate' for Verstappen, who had the chance to clinch his second title in the sport at the 2022 F1 Singapore GP. After the team made a fuel-related error in qualifying, however, the Dutchman started the race in P8 and could only manage to finish seventh at the end of the race. Sergio Perez, on the other hand, managed to win the race in tricky conditions, showcasing why Red Bull can rely on him when Verstappen isn't around.

Mika Hakkinen was all praise for Sergio Perez in his column for Unibet. He wrote:

“Checo Perez did a brilliant job for Red Bull. This was a perfect race, taking the lead away from Charles at the start, controlling the race, making no mistakes, and bringing the team the win. When Max does not win for Red Bull, Checo is waiting to jump in. This was his second win of the year and it reminded everyone why he is the perfect teammate to Max.”

Change in RB18 development to blame for Sergio Perez's deficit to Max Verstappen, claims Red Bull engineer

Red Bull engineer Pierre Waché claims Sergio Perez is struggling to keep up with Max Verstappen's performance in the second half of the 2022 F1 season due to a change in the RB18's development arc.

The car currently suits Verstappen a lot more than the Mexican, with the Dutchman right on the cusp of securing his second world title. With his win in Singapore, however, the Mexican has kept his championship hopes alive, albeit just barely.

The 32-year-old has failed to match Max Verstappen's raw pace, losing out to him on multiple occasions. Red Bull has now admitted that its development plans for 2022 cost Sergio Perez his performance, with the car reportedly favoring Verstappen's style of driving.

Waché said:

“I think there are multiple factors but the main one is clearly the car balance and confidence with it compared to the beginning of the year. When the car was a little bit more balanced for [Perez] and a little bit less for Max, after the potential of development we put on the car during the season, [it] moving away from that is maybe part of it.”

Max Verstappen could now win his second title in Japan this weekend if he manages to outscore both his teammate and Charles Leclerc at the end of the race.