Red Bull driver Sergio Perez says he does not want Max Verstappen to gift him victory at his home race in Mexico this weekend.
Heading into the Mexican GP weekend, Red Bull driver Sergio Perez is willing to secure his fifth GP win at his home race. But Perez wants to win it on his own and does not want any favours from the lead driver of Red Bull and his teammate Max Verstappen.
Many expect Verstappen, who has already won the 2022 Drivers’ championship title, to return the favour to Perez for helping him become the 2021 champion in Abu Dhabi.
But that is not going to happen as the Dutchman has already clarified that he will not, at least not in Mexico. Meanwhile, Perez has also said that he does need to be given anything.
Speaking exclusively to ESPN, the Mexican driver said that so far in his career he has achieved everything on his own, therefore this weekend as well he will work on getting perfect and securing that victory.
Furthermore, the 32-year-old expressed no doubt that if the situation presents itself Verstappen will help him in the same way the Mexican has helped the Dutchman.
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“Being Verstappen’s teammate is a difficult job” – Sergio Perez
Perez teamed up with Verstappen at Red Bull at the beginning of the 2021 season. Ever since then the Mexican has been outperformed by the Dutchman except for a few ocassions in which Perez sealed the victory.
He has often been seen playing second fiddle to the team’s obvious favourite lead driver Verstappen. And he has played that job spectacularly.
Last year in the season finale at the Yas Marina Circuit, Perez showed his innate racing talent to the world as he kept Lewis Hamilton at bay for several laps and helped his teammate clinch the title. Overjoyed Verstappen had nicknamed him “the minister of Defence.”
However, the 4 GP winner feels that being Verstappen’s teammate is undoubtedly a difficult job. He explained that he is happy in his place which no one else on the grid can occupy, but it asks for a lot of mental strength to be the Red Bull ace’s teammate.
Perez explains how he is now closer to Verstappen in pace
Since the beginning of the 2022 season, Perez has not been as comfortable with the RB18 as his teammate. On multiple events, the 32-year-old has even found it difficult to match Verstappen’s pace on race days.
As the season progressed, his side of the garage tried several things on his car which now seems to have worked.
Explaining what changed in his car, the Mexican said that it is a lot of small details that make big differences. He revealed that he and Verstappen had different flats during some races and that brought a difference.
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