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Car Disparity Between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez Brought to Light by Red Bull Engineer

Somin Bhattacharjee
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Car Disparity Between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez Brought to Light by Red Bull Engineer

Sergio Perez has been struggling immensely to match his teammate Max Verstappen recently, and reports surrounding differences in the performance of their respective cars started coming up. Red Bull, however, rubbished these claims and insisted that both Verstappen and Perez get an equal chance at winning races, by driving the same car.

So far, out of seven races in 2023, Verstappen has won five of them. He has been completely dominant, with no other driver coming close to matching his consistency or brilliance behind the wheel of the RB19. Perez, however, who showed some promise early on in this campaign, is now falling behind.

Fans are puzzled as to why the gap between Perez and Verstappen is so staggeringly huge, despite both of them driving the same car. This led to some people speculating as to whether Verstappen is the recipient of the better mechanical package among the two Red Bull drivers.

Sergio Perez is lacking the confidence to bring the fight to Max Verstappen

Red Bull’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan talks about how most drivers can’t maintain consistency at the highest level, especially due to varying levels of confidence. Monaghan feels that Perez himself is struggling with a very similar issue at the moment.

“As a team, we offer our unconditional support to Checo,” he said to Motorsport. “The cars are the same, whatever you need, we’ll do everything we can to support and accompany you.”
Monaghan also addressed the talks about Perez having to change his driving style in order to adapt to the RB19. By this, Monaghan feels that the Mexican will be experimenting with newer methods that will bring him closer to Max Verstappen. These are the methods that he hasn’t implemented in the future, and could potentially be the reason behind their huge gap in performance.
“He’s trying to get the best lap time he can. And if there are techniques he can deploy that will make him go faster, that would be foolish not to try.”

Both Verstappen and Perez are treated fairly

Verstappen is arguably the most in-form driver in F1 at the moment. Even though Red Bull won’t admit it officially, the Dutchman is their number one driver, and Perez plays a supporting role more often than not.

That is not to say that Perez is forbidden from fighting for the title. Both Christian Horner and Marko have been adamant that he is free to fight Verstappen if he can.

Monaghan clarified this by reiterating Red Bull’s stance on the matter once more. “We treat pilots fairly and support them to the best of our ability,” he said. “Nothing’s going to change.”

Verstappen’s win in Spain takes his total tally to 170 points at the summit of the standings. Perez is second, 53 points behind his 25-year-old teammate.

About the author

Somin Bhattacharjee

Somin Bhattacharjee

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Formula 1 Editor Somin Bhattacharjee fell for the sport as well as Fernando Alonso on the same day — during the Spaniard’s thrilling victory at the German GP in 2010. Over the years, the passion magnified manyfold, and metamorphosed into a writing career in 2021. Though holding a bachelor's degree in marketing, Somin discovered his true calling in writing. He has penned over 2,700 articles for TheSportsRush, presenting a diverse range — news reports, opinions, and exclusives. A true Tiffosi, Somin never gives up on a chance to defend the Ferrari boys as a fan. As a sports writer though, he remains objective to the core and relishes opportunities to follow and engage in dissecting the action during races. That’s where the real thrill lies for him. Beyond the racetrack, Somin plays different sports including soccer. He enjoys exploring other sporting events and proudly supports Spanish soccer club Real Madrid.

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