The shocking Sergio Perez statistic that shows how poor his 2023 F1 season has been

Sergio Perez has had a horrendous first half of the 2023 F1 season. Though the Mexican started off with some great results and was even considered a title contender who could fight Max Verstappen, his performance has dipped since the Miami GP.

Though he is still second in the drivers' championship, some of his statistics have been quite shocking, especially when considering that he is in a championship-winning car.

One of these statistics is that Sergio Perez's average starting position in a Grand Prix has been lower than Esteban Ocon's. When their starting positions in every race are added and divided by the number of races, Checo's average comes in at 8.75, while Ocon's average comes in at 8.5.

Though the margin between the two is so minute that it does not make a massive difference, when their cars are taken into account, it becomes a huge deal.

Sergio Perez is essentially driving the best car on the grid by a country mile. This is proved by his teammate, Max Verstappen, who is consistently winning most of the races this season and extending his lead in the drivers' championship.

Moreover, it was understood that Alpine started their season on the back foot and are now gradually moving up the midfield.

Despite all this, Sergio Perez is still only on par with Esteban Ocon in terms of where he starts his races. This shows how poor the Mexican is during qualifying sessions.

It is safe to say that the Red Bull driver needs to pull himself up and work extremely hard to once again be called a title contender or to at least secure the second position in the table.

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F1 pundit Martin Brundle believes Red Bull will fully support Sergio Perez's efforts to improve

Though it will be easier for Red Bull to manage two drivers who are not fighting for the championship, F1 pundit Martin Brundle believes the team will support the Mexican and get him back near the top of the grid.

In a Sky Sports F1 column, Brundle explained how Checo will need every bit of his experience and grit to once again close the gap to the podium. He wrote:

“Perez impressively won two of the first four races this season. Importantly, with Verstappen second to him each time, but it has all fallen apart since Max came from ninth on the grid in Miami to comfortably beat pole-sitting Sergio."

"Perez will need all his maturity and experience, along with team and family support, to turn his head around and start delivering his speed and potential."

Brundle continued:

“At the same time, Red Bull can’t have Perez off form when Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin inevitably home in on them. That’s why they’ll support him all the way.”

Sergio Perez has not been on the podium in the last three races. He even missed out on points in the 2023 F1 Monaco GP.