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.
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.
