Sergio Perez’s father is doing the Red Bull driver no favours in his career, according to Formula 1 legend Alain Prost.
The quadruple world champion thinks Perez’s strategy of so openly declaring that he is trying to beat teammate Max Verstappen to the 2023 crown was a bad move.
"He should make Max start to have doubts, or make sure Red Bull starts to think differently about his position within the team," Prost said of the Mexican driver.
"A driver always tries to tip the balance in his favour, whether it’s in terms of car setup or within the team itself," the quadruple world champion told L’Equipe.
"That’s where Perez is going wrong. We all know that he is facing an almost impossible mission."
But that mission is being made even harder, according to 68-year-old Prost, because of Perez’s father - a well-known figure both within motorsport but also in Mexican politics and business.
Antonio Perez Garibay said last winter that his 33-year-old son will not return to Mexico without being world champion, and compared the Perez-Verstappen struggle in 2023 with the fabled head-to-head between Ayrton Senna and Prost.
"First of all, Perez should not shout so loudly that he wants to beat Max, but his entourage isn’t helping with that either," said Prost.
"Last month I read that his father told the media that the fight between Perez and Max is comparable to the fight I had with Ayrton. That is pointless and actually only counterproductive."
Indeed, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is now saying it’s a good thing that Perez has fallen more than 50 points behind Verstappen because it takes the pressure off.
"Looking at the gap now, which is pretty significant, in many respects that will take pressure off his (Perez’s) shoulders," he said.
"I think that will allow him just to now relax, not put pressure on himself and just re-find the form that he had in those early races."