当塞尔吉奥·佩雷斯（Sergio Perez）在摩纳哥大奖赛中的胜利使他在一级方程式世界冠军赛中获得领先的15分之遥，围绕他在2022年冠军争夺战中的角色的突然兴奋感到非常熟悉。
For years, it wasValtteri Bottas被视为观看的那个人，是冠军争夺战中潜在的黑马，在正确情况下，他可能会在他身上拥有头衔。
Bottas would often start a season well – winning a race within the first four rounds in three of his five years as a Mercedes driver, including the season openers in 2019 and 2020 – yet would always find himself eclipsed by team-mate Lewis Hamilton over the course of a full campaign.
佩雷斯（Perez）在摩纳哥（Monaco）展示了bottas风格的韧性，从在巴塞罗那的团队命令的不公正现象中恢复过来，成为公国中最快的红牛车手，超过了统治世界冠军队友的比赛。Max Verstappenin every session except Q1.
也是第一个在2022年（在吉达的高速扫掠）上设置杆位的第一位驾驶员 - 毫无疑问，RB18汽车西装的良性特征毫无疑问，佩雷斯远胜于上一代红牛只有Verstappen才能驯服。
不过，尽管如此，人们仍然怀疑Verstappen的天生才能在22个赛季的距离中感到自己，尽管他尽了最大的努力，但像Bottas一样，佩雷斯（Perez）最终会发现自己无能为力，避免扮演支持角色。
There would be no shame in that for Perez, a driver for whom anything is a bonus after his F1 career came dangerously close to a premature conclusion following his release by Racing Point nearly two years ago.
但是在他开始赛季之后奖励了两年的合同延期直到2024年底，佩雷斯现在拥有Bottas一直想要的梅赛德斯。
当他使用银箭的时间结束时，Bottas经常谈到在梅赛德斯（Mercedes）签订一年合同的挫败感，缺乏长期稳定性使他抢走了该平台以迎接持续的冠军挑战。
需要年复一年地证明自己 - 他在每次竞选中的重点迅速从赢得比赛转变为简单地确保他在接下来的赛季中保留自己的席位。如果团队校长托托·沃尔夫（Toto Wolff）向他提供了比多年合同的收入。
“If I knew in 2017 I would be with the team for five years I think I would have allowed myself a bit more time to learn about things step by step and also be a bit more forgiving to myself,” he told F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast last November.
“但是在我看来，我认为这是一年的机会。第二年，同一件事 - 总是一年，一年，一年。
“I never had that peace of mind to give me a bit of flexibility.”
Bottas may have been overwhelmed by Hamilton regardless, but if there was one season when his lack of job security stifled his on-track performance it was surely 2019 when Mercedes’ obscene dominance ensured the title race, if one ever really existed, was exclusively between their drivers.
Bottas的赛季在开场四场比赛中以两场胜利领先冠军后，随着暑假的临近，有崩溃的危险，并报告说他将被预备队驾驶员取代Esteban Oconfor 2020 gathered pace.
猜测是在匈牙利GP的高峰期，在自我毁灭性的开始后，博塔斯在遥远的比赛中获得了遥远的八分之一，锁定在前两个角落，几乎与汉密尔顿碰撞，然后在被查尔斯·勒克塞尔（Charles Leclerc）赶上时遭受了前翼伤害。
So desperate was his approach to that opening lap, as he staggered from one corner to the next, that it almost had the air of a cry for help.
Yet after all that, Bottas’ fears that he was on the verge of being fired proved unfounded for at the next race at Spa – on the same day it was announced Ocon would be joining Renault – his contract extension was finally confirmed.
By that stage, however, the damage had already been done with Hamilton – having memorably chased down Verstappen in Budapest to claim his eighth win in 12 races in 2019 – 62 points clear as he began to close in on his sixth World Championship.
当然，他不能承认这一点，但是博特斯没有得到他本赛季的强劲开端，应该应得的，他的头衔挑战被他自己的团队遭到了挑战，他的团队有能力在一夜之间扑灭谣言只选择不这样做，但有时会扇动火焰。
“ Toto认为压力对我有利，” Bottas在2021年的网格中告诉。
“我同意 - 一定时间长的压力是好的，它可以从您身上得到更多。但是，如果您在一年一度的一级方程式职业生涯的九年中承受压力，那么它开始从内部吃掉您，您知道吗？”
The cushion of a long-term contract has been widely cited as a key reason behind Bottas’ glorious reinvention as Alfa Romeo’s team leader in 2022 and it is that pressure, uncertainty and endless scrutiny from which Perez will be shielded for at least the next 18 months.
Without the urgent need to protect his position in the team, he is free to prioritise performance.
After a patchy start to his Red Bull career last year, Perez has come to be regarded as a popular and valuable member of the team, making a clear contribution to Verstappen’s maiden title triumph by holding up Hamilton in the infamous Abu Dhabi decider.
His emergence as a race-winning, pole position-contending driver in 2022 – now able to qualify high enough on the grid to be a factor on race day – has added a potential complication to a title fight that until now had been considered a straight duel between Verstappen and Leclerc.
如果他接下来忍受一个艰难的咒语，那么他在2021年中期经历了他在Silverstone和Zandvoort之间的四场比赛中仅获得2分Pierre Gasly, for instance, would be a better fit.
与梅赛德斯的博塔斯不同，佩雷斯现在有机会真正建立一些东西 - 或构成某些东西，包括所有明星，包括所有明星 - 在Red Bull。
He has been given enough rope. Whether he chooses to run with it or hang himself with it is down to him.