Sergio Perez has admitted that being a team-mate to the double world champion Max Verstappen is ‘a great challenge’, with the Mexican also stating that no one in the world can come into Red Bull and beat him straightaway.
Perez has beaten Verstappen on just four occasions in the 2022 Formula 1 season although the Dutchman’s form this season has been on another planet after his recent win in Mexico City saw him break the single-season record for most F1 wins with 14.
While Red Bull has been within title contention for both years of Perez’s tenure with the team, he has failed to mount a serious title challenge against his team-mate who was successful in winning the championship for both years.
“It’s a great challenge to be his teammate,” Perez said. “Max is operating at a very high level from FP1 through the whole weekend so just had a little learning and trying to beat him and trying to do the stuff he is doing.
“So obviously, it is not an easy task. I don’t believe there’s anyone that can come and just beat him straightaway. He’s very solid with the team.
“He’s been here a while so I think I’m just getting closer with the year, so I will give it another shot for next year and see what happens.”
Perez has highlighted his race performance as the main area he needs to improve to stand a chance against his team-mate, with his focus on qualifying pace being his main area last season.
“Well, I think the lesson from this year is that, you know, it’s been a great year as a team,” Perez continued. “I do need to step up a bit my race pace, mainly, where last year was more the qualifying, I think.”
“With these cars, you are able to race a lot closer, so I think we need to step up that race pace. The understanding with the team, with the car, I think that has come better in the last few races.”
