Ex-Red Bull driver thinks Max Verstappen ‘broke’ 33-year-old F1 rival

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Christian Klien thinks Max Verstappen ‘broke’ Sergio Perez in their fight for the 2023 Formula 1 title by winning the Miami GP as the Red Bull driver struggled to respond.

The race in May was supposed to be the day that Perez emphasised his position as the main title rival to Verstappen. He kicked off the year just as strongly as the back-to-back reigning world champion. But the 33-year-old could not prevent his Red Bull teammate from the win.

Perez and Verstappen both won two of the opening four Grand Prix. Yet the Mexican arrived in Miami six points behind the Dutchman, despite Perez winning the Sprint at the Azerbaijan GP. Verstappen had the slender advantage after his teammate’s fifth-place finish in Australia.

Sergio Perez’s F1 title hopes unravelled after the Miami GP

Melbourne marked the only Grand Prix over the opening four rounds where Red Bull did not get a one-two finish. But a poor qualifying from Verstappen in Miami raised the potential for another and the chance for Perez to show his position as a contender for his maiden F1 title.

Verstappen failed to post a time during Q3 after topping the first two phases of qualifying at the Hard Rock Stadium circuit. The 26-year-old aborted his first attempt after a mistake into Turn 5. Red flags for Charles Leclerc’s stricken Ferrari then denied Verstappen a second go.

Perez had done enough with his provisional run to take pole position for the Miami GP. But a strategic fight went in Verstappen’s favour on race day as he charged through from ninth on the grid. Perez was helpless to keep the Dutchman back once Verstappen cleared the traffic.

Verstappen adopted the lead of the race on Lap 20 when Perez pitted before stretching their gap to 18.3 seconds. He would eventually come out just 1.6s behind the Mexican following a switch to medium tyres on L45. It was then easy for Verstappen to pass Perez into T1 on L47.

The Red Bull drivers would finish the race 5.3 seconds apart. But the Miami GP proved to be just the start of Verstappen’s dominance as he went on to record a record-breaking 10-race winning streak. Perez only finished among the podium positions five times over that period.

Christian Klien feels Max Verstappen ‘broke’ Sergio Perez

Perez even endured his worst weekend of the season on the back of the Miami GP with P16 in Monaco. The Mexican ruined his hopes by crashing in qualifying to start in 20th. Klien also feels it took Perez until the final races of the year to get his season somewhat back on track.

Klien – who drove for Red Bull in 2005 and 2006 – now notes how, unlike Verstappen, Perez could not handle the pressure of a title fight in Formula 1. The Miami GP and how his hopes for the title unravelled after losing from pole position were also the clearest examples of it.

“It feels like pressure is not getting into [Verstappen’s] head at all,” he told RacingNews365. “That was the difference to Checo. He had a very good start to the season and maybe he had in his mind, ‘Ok, maybe this year I can beat Max or at least [be] on the same level’.

“But I think Miami was already the turning point where he realised, ‘Ok the guy on the other side of the garage is really unbeatable’. I think, mentally, that broke him a little bit.

“It took him a really, really long time, maybe until the last couple of races where he got back [to his best]. He’s not a bad driver and you cannot unlearn how to drive a car fast. But in the end, it’s a mental game.”