Sergio Perez admits that having Max Verstappen as a teammate at Red Bull has pushed him to become a better driver.
Perez’s first season with his new team was turbulent, to say the least. It took him a lot of time to adjust to the RB16, and it wasn’t until the latter half of the season that we saw him get up to speed. The 31-year-old won the Azerbaijan GP in June and stood on the podium a further 4 times in 2021.
Perez was also praised for being a great ‘supporting driver’ throughout the season. He often put in strong performances to help Verstappen gain an advantage over his title rival Lewis Hamilton. After his strong defensive display at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen took the team radio to call Perez a ‘legend’.
When asked by Autosport about his first year in Red Bull, Perez said, “Very intense. It’s been extremely intensive. A lot of work has been done behind the scenes, a lot of pressure.”
Also read: Red Bull boss Christian Horner looks back on a ‘Hollywood’ like 2021 F1 season
“When you are at Red Bull Racing the pressure is on. Everyone is watching you, what you do and you guys are obviously a lot harder to a Red Bull driver, which is very understandable.”
The former Racing Point driver went on to praise his teammate Max Verstappen. He admitted that being in Red Bull and having the Dutchman as his teammate, improved his driving as the season progressed.
“It has brought me onto another level. And having Max as a teammate really pushes you to new levels. I’m enjoying it a lot at this point in my career. I’m very happy, and that’s the most important.”
Perez rues not being as consistent as Max Verstappen was in the 2021 season
Checo Perez lauded his teammate Verstappen’s brilliance while speaking about him. He called him ‘really good’ on all aspects in a race car, and went on to say that consistency was where the 24-year-old outperformed him.
“He’s really good. He’s really at one with the car and very good in qualifying and really good at the races,” said Perez.
“He’s very complete, experienced. I mean, the season he has done I think it’s been a legend, you know. It’s really impressive, and big praise to him. He’s really at one with the car.”
Muy contento por todo, por Max y por mi equipo! Al final pudimos apoyar y hacer diferencia en el resultado. Una pena no poder terminar la carrera con otro podium en la bolsa, pero contento con la temporada.
¡Gracias por todo su apoyo durante esta temporada intensa! #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/wNqzdIlQZU— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) December 12, 2021
As the 2022 season approaches, the Mexican driver knows he has to step up to bigger challenges. Now that he has settled into life in Milton-Keynes, people will be expecting a lot more from him when the lights go out in Bahrain next March.
“When you are out of position and so on, I think the main thing I lacked was a consistency to constantly be at 100% with the car.” said the Guadalajara born driver.
“I have to raise my game for next year. And yeah, hopefully, we are all able to go forward,” he concluded.
Also read: Red Bull reckon Max Verstappen’s 51G crash at Silverstone delayed his anointment as new world champ
