Perez more helpful to Verstappen than Piastri to Norris: surprising statistic in F1 title battle. Is Sergio Perez More Useful to the Cause than Oscar Piastri?.

Four decisive races remain in the fight between Verstappen and Norris for the title.

After the Mexican GP, 47 points separate the two contenders. Despite the on-track controversies, the McLaren driver currently has a superior car and can still hope for a comeback. Looking back over the season, Max Verstappen has been able to rely on Perez much more than Norris has been able to on Oscar Piastri, a difference that could ultimately prove decisive.

Is Sergio Perez More Useful to the Cause?
Max Verstappen built his lead mainly at the beginning of the year. The RB20 started the season as the leading car, with three one-two finishes in the first four races.

In those instances (Bahrain, Jeddah, and Japan), Sergio Perez finished in second place, behind Verstappen but ahead of Norris. This means points were taken away from the McLaren driver. On the McLaren side, there is an interesting fact. Oscar Piastri has finished ahead of Verstappen six times, but in each of those instances, he also finished ahead of Lando Norris, effectively “taking” points from his teammate as well.

The Australian has therefore never taken points from Max without also taking them from Lando Norris. On the other hand, Sergio Perez has finished ahead of the British driver, while staying behind Max Verstappen, three times.

Overall, the Mexican has taken 7 points from Lando, while Oscar has taken 8 more points from his teammate than from Max. This 15-point impact favors the Red Bull driver in the standings, which is surprising given Perez’s performance this season.

Other Factors to Consider
Although the numbers favor Sergio Perez, there are ways in which Oscar Piastri might have helped Lando Norris in his world championship fight against Max Verstappen that are harder to quantify.

These include providing comparable performance to Lando Norris for testing developments, staying closer to Max Verstappen in races to influence Red Bull’s strategies, creating “two against one” scenarios, and being more involved in car development.

These are all important factors, though harder to translate into points. The objective data, however, shows that Norris has not managed to gain crucial points over the Dutchman in this championship. Whenever Max Verstappen had his worst results, finishing sixth three times, the McLaren driver did not win.

With four races remaining, Lando Norris will need to reverse this trend if he wants to stay in contention with Max Verstappen. We’ll see if Oscar Piastri can lend him a hand as well.