Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has established another level of dominance in the past couple of seasons. Since the Dutchman has been so dominant, many have criticized Sergio Perez for being unable to match his Red Bull teammate. The Mexican has tried his best to come as close to Verstappen’s level but has often struggled to do so. Perez’s struggles were most evident last year as he only managed to register two wins all season in comparison to the 26-year-old’s 19. Since there has been such a gap between the two Red Bull teammates, Helmut Marko has explained how Perez has attempted to solve his problems by mimicking the three-time world champion.
In his column on Speedweek.com, the Austrian wrote, “This year he [Sergio Perez] is no longer experimenting, but starts with more or less the same basic tuning as Max [Verstappen]”. Since Verstappen has established unprecedented dominance, many have often speculated about how Red Bull’s cars are more aligned to his liking.
Marko also seems to suggest the same but at the same time also highlights how the 34-year-old is now becoming more and more comfortable with the set-up that Verstappen uses. Perez’s results in the first couple of races this year also seem to indicate that he has made a step forward from the way he ended last year.
In both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Perez managed to finish behind Verstappen and helped Red Bull register consecutive 1-2s. However, as long as Verstappen continues to finish ahead of Perez, the speculations about how Red Bull favors the Dutchman will continue. Moreover, even Perez’s father last year raised concerns about the same.
Sergio Perez’s father criticized Red Bull for favoring MaxVerstappen over his son
In an interview last year, Sergio Perez’s father, Antonio Pérez Garibay, shockingly claimed that the only reason Red Bull have hired his son was for him to finish second. Antonio believes that the Milton Keynes-based outfit have no interest in seeing his son beat Max Verstappen for the championship.
“The car is set for Max because he drives with all the grip at the front and Checo has done it all the time with the grip at the back. The position Checo is in is the one he was hired for, second place,” explained Antonio (as quoted by mirror.co.uk).
Antonio then added that his son has no option but to stick with Red Bull as the Austrian outfit do have the fastest car at the moment. According to the 64-year-old, if Sergio moved anywhere else, then he would finish much lower than even second. Although Antonio made such surprising claims, Max Verstappen unsurprisingly did not agree with them.
The Dutchman said that he is happy to adapt to whatever car Red Bull provides him with. “I’m quite happy with the behavior of the car, but if the car is a little bit more understeery I have to adapt my driving to that. Or, if it’s more oversteery, it’s the same way,” explained Verstappen.
