Should Sergio Perez now be treated as a title contender against Max Verstappen?

F1 pundit Scott Mitchell-Malm has stated that Sergio Perez is a title contender for the 2023 F1 season, but needs to be consistent if he wants to challenge Max Verstappen. Perez is currently six points behind his Red Bull teammate in the drivers' championship table.

Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, Mitchell-Malm said:

"For now he is a title contender. He's too close in the points not to be considered one. He has won half of the races so far, and he has won the sprint as well, so he has got more wins than Verstappen does this season."

However, the F1 pundit also pointed out how all of Sergio Perez's race wins have come on the street tracks, including two this season. He said:

"I think the thing that Verstappen is probably aware of and Red Bull was probably aware of is that this phase of the season has had two races in which Perez has been strong at in the past: the street tracks. I don't quite subscribe to the view that he is 'king of the streets' or whatever his nickname is. I think he's certainly got an elevated success rate on street tracks, and I think all his Red Bull wins have come on street tracks now."

Mitchell-Malm added that consistency over the course of the season will be key, an area in which Max Verstappen excels. He concluded:

"It's all about consistency from this point onwards. And I think the aggressive interpretation of that is Verstappen saying, I know I can be consistent over a season; let's see if this guy can."

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Sergio Perez sums up his feelings after the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP

After the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP, Sergio Perez expressed delight with how the weekend panned out. The Mexican won both the sprint and the main race in Baku. Speaking to Viaplay, he said:

"Unbelievable. The weekend has been an amazing one. I'm super pleased, and, yeah, I cannot say more, you know, it's been a tremendous day for us. I'm super happy, it was a tremendous race yesterday, today, I think the way we executed it was perfect."

It will be interesting to see if Perez can stay close to Verstappen and challenge for the drivers' championship come the end of the season.