Red Bull blame Max Verstappen for Sergio Perez’s dire form

Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull, believes Sergio Perez has been putting too much pressure on himself to match his teammate Max Verstappen. 



However, Horner sees the growing points gap between the two drivers in the championship standings as a positive development for Perez.



Verstappen secured his third consecutive victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, significantly extending his lead over Perez in the drivers’ standings to 53 points.



Perez has faced setbacks in the last two races, starting outside the top 10 due to qualifying errors. Despite this, he managed to make an impressive recovery from 11th on the grid to finish fourth in the race.







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Horner expressed his satisfaction with Perez’s performance, stating that it exceeded Red Bull’s expectations and should boost his confidence. 



“It was a very good recovery, particularly the second half of the race for Checo. That will give him a lot of confidence. Looking at the gap now between the two drivers, which is pretty significant, in many respects that will take pressure off his shoulders,” Horner said.



When asked if Perez had been pushing himself too hard to match Verstappen, Horner agreed, noting that they are aware of Perez’s capabilities based on his performances in races like Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia earlier this season. 



Horner expressed confidence that Perez will rediscover his form in the coming rounds.



Verstappen has acknowledged his recent successful run of races but emphasised the need for continuous improvement and finding more performance. 



While pleased with his performance at the Spanish Grand Prix, he acknowledged that different tracks may present different challenges, and there are still many races ahead where they need to perform well to secure victory.



“I’m happy in the car and I think the last few race weekends have definitely been a lot more positive for me,” Verstappen said.



“This is one weekend where I think it went really well but we also know that maybe some other tracks it’s not like this, so there are a lot of races to come where we again have to perform really well to try and win the race.”




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Verstappen also expressed enthusiasm for increased competition from other teams, following a strong showing by Mercedes in the recent race. He highlighted the positive impact it has on the sport and expressed hopes for more teams and drivers contending for victories throughout the season.



“I think it’s great for the sport in general if you have more teams fighting up front,” he added.



“That’s, I think, what they want to achieve so honestly that would be amazing, to have more drivers really up there, and hopefully throughout the year it will already get closer and maybe next year there are more teams really up there.”
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