“We are expecting him to be close”- Red Bull boss expects Sergio Perez to give Max/Ricciardo level competition to Mercedes

“We are expecting him to be close”- Red Bull boss expects Sergio Perez to match Mercedes, as previously done by his partner and predecessor.

Red Bull signed Sergio Perez after a long set of consideration, and in 2021, they expect him to extend Red Bull’s challenge against Mercedes with powerful performances.

Christian Horner while explaining his expectations from Perez, he mentioned that least he could do is challenge their rivals, Mercedes, like Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo did in recent years.

“It’ll be challenging to get himself up to speed in just one test, straightaway,” Horner told Autosport in an exclusive interview for this week’s Autosport magazine.

“But he has the benefit of a lot of experience and, of course, we are expecting him to be close to Max and challenging – in a way that we had with Daniel Ricciardo and Max for three seasons.”

“So, hopefully, Sergio can play a real, significant role for the team in getting both cars, consistently, near to the Mercedes,” he added.

Max Verstappen growth is immense.

Later when Horner was asked about Verstappen’s progress ever since he was given his break by Red Bull in 2016. Horner claims that the Dutchman has done some great work by becoming one of the best F1 drivers of today.

“I think Max has done a great job. I think he’s matured enormously over the last few years. And I think what he’s extracted from the car in the last couple of years has been truly impressive.”

“In a car that hasn’t been as good as the Mercedes [and] to have won five races in the last two years with Honda power [as well], I think he’s done a fantastic job. And we just as a team need to be able to do that on a more consistent basis over the course of a 23-race season,” he concluded.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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