'Verstappen is one of the best in history, but Perez is not treated fairly'
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Almost all analysts agree: Sergio Perez's position at Red Bull Racing is no longer tenable. However, Formula E co-founder Alberto Longo has backed the Mexican. Speaking to SoyMotor, Longo argues that the "Formula 1 world has been unfair" to the 34-year-old driver.
"I love Checo, I love Carlos Slim," Longo referred to Perez's big backer. "I think the F1 world has been hugely unfair to Checo. I had him as a driver for two or three years in Formula 2 and I will never get tired of saying: he was a driver with absolutely unique talent. I saw him overtake, I remember, in Doha, in 2008/2009 in Asian GP2, I have never seen anything like that in my life. And I've been around for a while," Longo said, disagreeing with Perez's critics.
Perez vs Verstappen
After 21 races, Perez lingers in eighth place in the world championship with 151 points. His teammate Max Verstappen leads the standings and has more than double the amount of points. That big difference, according to Longo, is to do with Verstappen's qualities, but also with how Red Bull operate with Checo.
"We are obviously talking about one of the best drivers in history, and that is Max. But having said that, I didn't think it was fair how Checo was treated. I called that from the beginning. Now it's more visible, but it wasn't fair from the first minute." With this, Longo seems to suggest that Verstappen was AND is being favoured by the Austrian team.
Earlier this year, Longo expressed the hope that Perez will, one day, decide to switch to Formula E.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton