Stuart Codling on the merits of Vettel over Pérez
FULL THROTTLE MUSINGS WITH STUART CODLING
PÉREZ LOSES OUT TO VETTEL’S TROPHY CABINET
VETTEL IS NOT ONE OF THOSE DRIVERS WHO HANGS AROUND IN F1 BECAUSE HE LOVES IT
For all its plucky underdog stylings, the team that started out as Jordan has always had a mercenary edge. As a driver, even if you brought a suitcase full of cash you lived in fear of that credit one day running out, and someone else arriving at the factory gates bearing a vessel suitably stuffed with filthy lucre.
With that in mind it wasn’t too surprising that Racing Point should toss Sergio Pérez under the bus one year into a three-year contract, even though he brings budget and Sebastian Vettel undoubtedly won’t. Though Vettel’s stock has fallen somewhat in recent years, he retains a star quality and brings a sprinkling of magic Pérez cannot match.
‘Stock’ is the name of the game here. From next season Racing Point will take the name of a certain premium automotive brand with which it shares an owner. The timing of the Pérez-vettel announcements were significant, given that Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange: Pérez’s departure was confirmed at 8pm, long after the closing bell, while Vettel’s imminent arrival was communicated at 8am the following day, shortly before the markets opened again.
Within an hour of the traders clocking in, Aston Martin’s value had risen 7% as a proportion of its market capitalisation, which equates to an £80million increase in value. Not bad for a company whose value had been plummeting before Lawrence Stroll and his consortium got their wallets out. This is the kind of growth that money can’t buy – well, with the exception of whatever stipend the four-time champion will be drawing.
Sadly, the surge was shortlived, and come lunchtime shares were changing hands for roughly the same price they had 24 hours earlier – which is to say a third of the going rate this time last year.
Investing in this kind of business requires nerves as steely as those of any F1 driver.
Confidence is key here. It’s said that perception is all in Formula 1, and there is some overlap with that in the business world. Vettel might not be the wonderkid he once was, but his presence imbues the Aston Martin F1 project with credibility and investability. For all Pérez’s gifts behind the wheel, to the world outside F1 – Mexico apart – he’s very much “Who he?”
While Vettel isn’t likely to get any faster or better as a racing driver at his age (33 and counting), he remains motivated. He’s not one of those drivers who hangs around in F1 because he loves it, or because he can’t think of anything else to do. Given the right car he’s arguably faster than Pérez over a single lap and better able to manage a race.
Pérez has long since purged his game of the lapses in judgement and tyre management which led to his ejection from Mclaren all those years ago. He’s worked to improve his craft but, as with Vettel, he’s run out of runway for improvement. He’s not going to get any faster. At the end of the day he’s been swapped out for someone with a more impressive trophy cabinet.
Lance Stroll inarguably still has room to improve. To his credit, he’s been working on his deficits, particularly a tendency to not extract the most out of the car in qualifying. He has plenty of that personal development runway left. And his father signs the cheques.
Indeed, Stroll might have won the Italian GP last month. If he’d had a 10-second head start after the red flag so he could make a pig’s ear of the first lap and still stay in front.
And there we might have another reason for Pérez’s ejection. History has shown that Seb needs a team-mate who plays nice and isn’t fighting for the same piece of asphalt…