Red Bull is currently the most dominant team in F1. With the strongest car, the RB19, at his disposal, Max Verstappen is almost unstoppable. The same, however, cannot be said for Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, who as of late, has been struggling to get up to speed. Former world champion Nico Rosberg feels that it is Perez, who could eventually be responsible for snapping their winning streak.
This season, Red Bull has won every single race so far. If the previous campaign is taken into account, Red Bull has a total of 20 wins in the last 21 outings, which is an incredible feat. Currently, the Milton-Keynes-based outfit seems to be far ahead of everyone else. But Rosberg is concerned about what will happen if Verstappen loses his mojo just once.
11 wins in a row for the team, what an amazing achievement @redbullracing This is an extraordinary job by everyone #KeepPushing
Thank you Silverstone #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/JvY7dR54ij
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 9, 2023
Out of the 1o Grand Prix wins for Red Bull in 2023, Verstappen has eight. Perez showed some strong pace in the initial rounds, winning in Azerbaijan and Jeddah, but since then, has struggled comprehensively. In the last five races, he has failed to make it into Q3, which has led to rumors about him being sacked circulating all over the internet. Rosberg feels that the Mexican driver’s poor form will cost Red Bull in the races to come.
Sergio Perez could stop Red Bull’s winning streak, says Rosberg
Rosberg retired from F1 in 2016, just weeks after winning his only world championship. Since then, he has often acted as a pundit, sharing his opinion on how things unfold in the sport. In an interview with Marca, the former Mercedes driver explained why Perez could be the one to stop Red Bull’s historic run.
Rosberg feels that Red Bull’s winning run depends on Verstappen performing. For whatever reason, if the Dutch driver is unable to be his alien self for one weekend, things could go downhill for the team.
Bringing home the #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/nPMnCWI2Og
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 10, 2023
“The difficulty is that, for the moment, they only have one driver who can win all the races, the other is always behind with many difficulties,” he said. “For Verstappen, it’s just going to be a lot of races, yes.”
Admittedly, Rosberg isn’t the only personality to claim that Verstappen is carrying Red Bull. The 25-year-old two-time world champion himself feels that he doesn’t need Perez to help Red Bull lift the constructors” championship.
Verstappen doesn’t need Perez to succeed
According to a recent interview, Verstappen insisted that he does not need the help of his teammate to succeed. These comments were made in reference to the ongoing constructors’ championship battle, which is also being dominated by Red Bull.
Verstappen said that he won’t need Perez to perform, and can ensure Red Bull wins the title by himself. It could be a far fetch for any driver to make such a claim but Verstappen currently has 255 points. Meanwhile, Mercedes and Aston Martin who are P2 and P3 in the teams’ standings respectively have 203 and 181 points respectively.
