Rosberg: Perez let F1 fans down, made it too easy for Verstappen

Nico Rosberg has made a scathing assessment of underfire Sergio Perez, claiming the Red Bull driver let down Formula 1 fans by making it so easy for his teammate Max Verstappen to win his third title this year.While Perez looked feisty and up for a fight against his teammate, until the Miami Grand Prix when Verstappen seized the upper hand again and never looked back. If he ever did, he would see Perez struggling or crashing or both.

Thus as a contest the 2023 F1 drivers' title, although sealed in Qatar last time out, it was over after the Canadian Grand Prix, according to this site that bestowed him the title on that Sunday in Montreal. It was never in doubt thereafter.

Perez, on the other hand, continued to struggle, Qualifying sessions became a nightmare for him, while his teammate was invariably on pole. And then, a slew of horrible Sundays has the Mexican on the backfoot. Many questioned his value to the team, considering Verstappen has scored enough points solo to have won the title for Red Bull.

Although he showed sympathy for Perez, at the same time he was not shy to stick in the knife, when Rosberg told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast: "I feel for him. It's such a horrible position to be in. The pressure of the world on his shoulders.

"The social media world is criticising him so much, because all F1 fans are relying on him as well to make it so exciting and in a way. He let F1 fans down because he made it too easy for Verstappen."

While his teammate has sped off into the distance, Perez has a posse chasing him all the way to the end for second place in the 2023 F1 Drivers' standings. Lewis Hamilton is 30 points adrift, and Fernando Alonso 11 points further back, with five rounds remaining.

Rosberg is no stranger to being a teammate to phenomenal drivers. When Mercedes launched their F1 comeback it was he and legend Michael Schumacher who shared a garage, until Lewis Hamilton came along.

Nico and Lewis had been karting pals, besties off track in their youth. But that all dissolved into almost hatred as Hamilton won in 2014 and 2015, while Rosberg made a last mighty effort to win in 2016. But it was war between the pair for that to happen. The German quit thereafter and the Briton became a knight and added four more titles to that.

Rosberg recalled: "I was in that situation with Hamilton. I was really carrying the expectation of everybody on my shoulders to keep it exciting and not let [racing] become boring, with Hamilton being too dominant.

"It's really a tough situation for him, so I can really relate. He’s having such a difficult time. I mean Qatar was a horrible weekend again for him, like so bad, with the best car."

As for how Perez can return to form, Rosberg was stumped: "Wow, I don't know, he really needs to find a way there and very quickly because of how he's driving now, I mean Red Bull really need to consider even for next year."

The problem Red Bull have is clear, the best seat in the house next to Max is also a poisoned one as the Dutch ace tends to scare off or destroy his RBR teammates: Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and now Perez.

Regarding Verstappen's teammate, Rosberg reckoned: "That's a real headache they've got there because they need to have two top drivers to score some solid points and Sergio is underperforming at the moment. For reasons that I struggle to understand because I know he's a great driver, so it's very difficult to understand why he would be so far off.

"One explanation is that Max is spectacular, one of the greatest of all time, he’s soon going to be one of the top five of all time, so that’s one reason but still Sergio’s still too far," added Rosberg. Verstappen's 14 wins to Perez's two this season, is proof.