Victory at the Singapore Grand Prix earlier this month highlighted why Sergio Perez is the "perfect team-mate to Max Verstappen " according to former F1 champion Mika Hakkinen.
It was the Mexican's second win of the season, following an impressive performance at the Monaco Grand Prix. It also meant Red Bull still had a driver on the top step of the podium in Verstappen's absence – the Dutchman had to settle for seventh in a frustrating race.
And a week later in Japan, Perez played a major role in his team-mate making sure of the 2022 drivers' title. He looked set to wait until at least Austin before sealing the championship, but some excellent driving on the final lap at Suzuka forced Charles Leclerc into incurring a penalty which saw him dropped behind Perez to third place.
"Checo Perez did a brilliant job for Red Bull," two-time world champion Hakkinen wrote in his Unibet column. "This was a perfect race [in Singapore], taking the lead away from Charles at the start, controlling the race, making no mistakes and bringing the team the win.
"When Max does not win for Red Bull, Checo is waiting to jump in. This was his second win of the year and it reminded everyone why he is the perfect team-mate to Max."
In the next edition of that column after the race in Japan, Hakkinen paid tribute to Verstappen. By winning the race and the title at Suzuka, the 25-year-old matched the Finn's number of world championship successes – also secured in back-to-back seasons.
"This was a fantastic performance by Max, the kind of race you dream about when going for the world championship title," Hakkinen wrote. "He said before the weekend that he just wanted it to be perfect, especially following the problems he and the team had in Singapore a week ago.
"Pole position wasn't easy – only 0.01s faster than Charles' Ferrari – but Max managed to pull the lap together really well. His race start was incredible because it looked as though Charles had taken the lead but Max has so much confidence and held on. You can use that outside line at the first corner in the wet.
"It's typical of what a kart racer can do, and Max used all his experience to take control and put Charles behind. From then on he was in a class of his own – really on top of the car. To win by 27 seconds after such a short race was brilliant. Max's 12th win of the year really shows how much he deserved this year's world championship – he dominated."
