Being the most dominant driver in F1 over the last few years, Max Verstappen is surely a very important and influential person in Red Bull. However, his manager Raymond Vermeulen claims that the influence doesn’t give him a right to decide who gets to race with him in the team.
The defending champions have currently been facing a second driver dilemma. Several drivers, including Daniel Ricciardo, are tipped to become a teammate to Max Verstappen in 2024. However, this isn’t something the Milton-Keynes-based team aren’t used to as seen with the likes of Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon already.
Now with Ricciardo’s comeback rumors amidst Sergio Perez’s poor form, the duo are now pitted against one another. Perez’s current contract will see him drive for Red Bull until at least 2024. This is unless the Milton-Keynes-based outfit decides to pull the plug and sack him.
Max Verstappen isn’t bothered about the competition at Red Bull
The Dutchman is currently in the golden phase of his career. With 41 victories racked up already, he is raring to go for more. Additionally, the RB19’s dominance has allowed him to completely relaxed in this year’s title fight. If things keep going the way they are, Verstappen will comfortably seal his third crown with multiple races to spare.
Speaking on this, Vermeulen revealed as per Dutch Magazine Formule1 via FormulaPassion, “All Red Bull riders receive the same material and everyone is free to beat Max Verstappen. Let them bring it on.”
100 wins 🙌
To take the 100th Grand Prix victory for our team is absolutely fantastic and an amazing achievement by everyone! Very proud to be part of this, @redbullracing 👏 Let’s keep this going 🚀
Canada, your support is incredible! Thank you very much! 🍁 pic.twitter.com/QzZRM7BbYy
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) June 18, 2023
Red Bull insists that both their drivers get the same resources, intel and treatment at the team. Despite that, the 25-year-old has been extracting the extra edge against his teammates since making his debut back in 2016.
Perez’s poor form means Ricciardo’s return?
Lately, Sergio Perez has been extremely poor with his performances, especially by Red Bull’s standards. He started the year on a very strong note, so much so that he was regarded as a championship contender. However, Perez failed to keep up the momentum.
At a certain point, the 33-year-old was on par with Max Verstappen. From thereon, he couldn’t get the best out of the mighty RB-19, and now sees Fernando Alonso breathing down on his neck for P2 in the standings.
Tough weekend. We couldn’t find the pace in both qualifying and the race. We’re going to work extremely hard to turn this around. We know we can do it, and we’ll come back very strong.
Congratulations to Max on helping today @redbullracing to reach the 100th win
Duro fin de… pic.twitter.com/DTddQ7nTdi
— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) June 18, 2023
Speaking about his struggle, the former Force India driver revealed that he has been facing issues with his brakes. However, Horner said that it’s a talent deficit thing and he need not to have pressure on himself.
On the other hand, Ricciardo is going to have his three-day testing at Silverstone with the RB-19. Following the Silverstone testing, he will get another opportunity to driver later this year at Monza. The media along with the team will be very much keen to see what the Honey Badger has in store.
