Sergio Perez admits what’s ‘hard to see’ from Max Verstappen at Red Bull

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Sergio Perez has now opened up on the ‘quite hard’ feeling of being Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull and seeing the two-time champion dominate Formula 1 in 2023.

This season has seen Red Bull take a clean sweep of Grand Prix victories so far with 14 of 14. Verstappen has even taken the chequered flag first in 12 rounds and set a new record with a 10th-consecutive victory. Perez was the last driver to deny the Dutchman a win back in April.

Verstappen is cruising towards his third consecutive championship this year with a 145-point lead over Perez. The 25-year-old’s 364 points so far would even be enough to sit second in the constructor’s championship alone. Mercedes now trail Red Bull’s 583-point total by 310.

Perez has struggled to maintain his challenge for Verstappen’s crown

Perez had started the season strongly to begin dreaming about mounting his own challenge for the F1 championship this year. The 33-year-old edged Verstappen to the win at the Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan Grands Prix. But Verstappen has won each race on the calendar since.

Verstappen has even been the only Red Bull driver on the podium in six of the 14 races this season. Perez has failed to score a rostrum finish in Australia, Monaco, Spain, Canada, Great Britain and the Netherlands. He even finished in P16 at Monaco after crashing in qualifying.

Perez now opens up on watching his Red Bull teammate dominate F1

Qualifying has been Perez’s issue as the Mexican’s dream of rivalling Verstappen for the title has fallen apart. Along with his Q1 crash at Monaco, Perez beached his Red Bull in the gravel in Q1 in Australia plus finishing in P11 in Spain, P12 in Canada and P15 in Austria and Britain.

Verstappen’s year has not been faultless in qualifying, either, after a mechanical issue meant he qualified P15 in Saudi Arabia. He also only finished P9 in Miami after failing to post a time in Q3. Yet he charged through the grid to take P2 in Jeddah and beat Perez to win in Miami.

Now, Perez has opened up on the ‘quite hard’ sense of watching Verstappen dominate F1 in the other Red Bull. He can only respect the Dutchman for what he is producing in 2023 after maximising the car the Milton Keynes-based squad have delivered their drivers and himself.

“We have to appreciate what Max is doing,” Perez stated, via quotes by RacingNews365. “At the level that he is driving at the moment, it’s extreme.

“I think the ability he has to perform at his 100% every single weekend, no matter which conditions he’s driving [in]. It’s something that’s quite hard to see, as his teammate.

“It doesn’t really matter what’s happened, whether we have a good margin or bad margins or the car is becoming difficult. He’s been able to extract 100% out of himself and the car pretty much every weekend.”