{"id":298219,"date":"2023-11-26T06:09:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T06:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=298219"},"modified":"2023-11-26T06:09:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T06:09:18","slug":"sergio-perez-proves-f1-fans-right-as-lewis-hamilton-suffers-10-year-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/racing\/f1\/sergio-perez-proves-f1-fans-right-as-lewis-hamilton-suffers-10-year-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Sergio Perez proves F1 fans right as Lewis Hamilton suffers 10-year first"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sergio Perez has proved Formula One fans right by beating Lewis Hamilton to P2 in the World Drivers\u2019 Championship standings. The Red Bull star will finish 2023 behind triumphant team-mate Max Verstappen in the overall leaderboard after securing the runner-up position at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

It comes after Express Sport readers voted to say that Hamilton will overtake Perez and finish second to Verstappen. A huge 61 per cent of fans believed that he would beat the Mercedes star in in the final months of the season.<\/p>\n

That is despite Perez suffering a drastic dip in form midway through the year. His woes were compounded by an extremely early exit at his home race in October.<\/p>\n

But the 33-year-old has battled back and has now condemned Hamilton to an unwanted personal record. The seven-time world champion has now gone three years without a title, with Verstappen\u2019s dominance meaning he has been unable to even win a race since 2021.<\/p>\n

It is the first time Hamilton has embarked on such an unwanted barren run since 2013, when he endured the last of four years without winning the Drivers\u2019 Championship. That, though, came much earlier in his career when there was less expectation on Hamilton to win titles.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong> Lewis Hamilton has theory over Horner’s radio messages to Max Verstappen[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n

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“It’s a bit of mixed feelings. It was really not nice to lose a place to Charles there in the end,\u201d Perez said after pipping Hamilton to P2 despite finishing third behind Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

He added: “It started really well, fighting for the championship. But then, I think in Barcelona, we had such a dominant car, but I just couldn’t set it up properly. It was just getting out of my hands, the confidence was going down.<\/p>\n

“So just to manage to come back and really put together a strong result… I think to be able to constantly be fighting at the top. I think that really is the highlight of my year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Hamilton fears that Red Bull\u2019s dominance could continue until 2026, when the next regulation changes are introduced. He pointed out that teams who develop a huge margin over their rivals are able to develop the next season\u2019s car earlier.<\/p>\n