There is no doubt that Max Verstappen is the main driver at Red Bull. Since arriving on the big stage in 2016, Verstappen has taken the sport by storm and is a two-time world champion at the young age of 25. The 2023 season, however, could provide a twist in Verstappen’s fairytale ride, with teammate Sergio Perez more motivated than ever to win the world championship.
Perez joined Red Bull in 2021 and spent two years in Verstappen’s shadow, but the Mexican believes that this year is his. After two races this campaign, Perez is just a point behind his teammate and fans are already excited about a potential title battle between the Red Bull drivers.
Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, has criticised Red Bull’s strategy at the Monaco Grand Prix 👀 pic.twitter.com/Kb2IE8JbvT
— Oddschanger (@Oddschanger) May 31, 2022
1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill told Motorsport that the Verstappen family is too powerful for Perez to have any impact. According to the Brit, Max and his father Jos Verstappen have a huge say in how things work at Red Bull, which could hamper Perez’s potential prospective title charge.
Jos Verstappen will put pressure on Red Bull if Perez challenges Max
Perez has never been involved in a title fight in his life, but the thought of the 33-year-old challenging Verstappen is very probable. Hill feels that Verstappen and his father play the cards at Red Bull, and that there isn’t any chance of Perez winning the championship if they start putting pressure on Christian Horner and co.
Last week’s race in Saudi Arabia saw Verstappen start the race from P15 and finish second. Even though it was a miraculous recovery, the Dutchman wasn’t happy with how Red Bull didn’t issue team orders to Perez, asking him to swap positions with him.
Btw Jos Verstappen congratulated Perez..
So before we all judge we need to have all the facts, not just what the media tells you. pic.twitter.com/Iqa7fSyEQt
— Donny Verstappen (@DonnyVerstappen) March 20, 2023
Perez, who managed his pace brilliantly throughout, was ecstatic after the race unlike Verstappen, who declared that he wasn’t at Red Bull ‘to finish second’.
Hill talks about Red Bull drivers who couldn’t handle Verstappen’s pressure
Being Verstappen’s teammate is not easy for anyone who joins Red Bull. Drivers like Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon struggled immensely to match the Dutchman, and led to their eventual exit from the team.
Hill, however, insists that this high pressure situation was actually created by Verstappen and his father. He feels that Perez will be able to cope with the pressure much better than the others, but Verstappen too will up the notch.
Hill also revealed that he saw Jos Verstappen at the Saudi Arabian GP, and that he was furious with how things were going.
