Max Verstappen is adamant that Red Bull’s “main concern” as it strives to protect its advantage in both Formula 1 championships is greater than Sergio Perez’s plight.
Perez’s ongoing wretched run continued at Belgium in the last race prior to the summer break as he converted a front row start into an eighth-place result on the road.
The Mexican contributing a meagre 28 points over the past eight rounds has enabled McLaren to erode the gap in the Constructors’ Championship down to 42 points.
But while Red Bull’s top brass held a meeting to evaluate his position earlier this week, Perez will retain his place in the team alongside Verstappen past the shutdown.
Perez’s continued absence at the sharp end has exposed Verstappen as, along with McLaren, Mercedes has also emerged as a genuine contender over recent events.
However, the Dutchman, who hasn’t won in four races, believes that it would be harsh to suggest that Perez should shoulder all the blame over his recurring problems.
“We are team-mates and we always try to give our feedback to the car, and that is also what Checo is doing,” he said. “He has always been fully contributing to that.
“We cannot deny that the last few weekends have been a bit difficult. I would say also some were a bit unlucky.
“Unlucky at Silverstone in qualifying that the off means you have to start at the back. Especially in a race like that it’s very difficult to progress.
“Also the people starting in the front raced themselves backwards.
“It’s tough. I think naturally he wants to do better. I know he’s working very hard. It’s not that he just takes it for granted.
“From our side, we just need to focus on performance because our car has been a bit tricky at times.
“On Friday we were always chasing balance and it’s very hard to be consistent because you are always having to deal with balance issues.
“So I think it’s not entirely fair to say that everything is his own fault.
“Even for myself, the last few weekends have been very challenging to get the best out of the car and the team knows that.
“We try to get the car in a bit of a nicer operating window, a bit more predictable, and also you can build from FP1 into the race with a stable balance.”
Perez was poised to take a critical result at Spa-Francorchamps when he qualified third in damp conditions to inherit second once Verstappen’s grid drop was applied.
But while Perez struggled in the race and tumbled through the pack, Verstappen, who recovered to fourth, has insisted that Red Bull’s biggest issue is the RB20’s pace.
“I think our main concern is the car,” he claimed. “That’s what we should focus on mainly.
“Because I think if you look at Checo’s weekend, it was very positive, I would say.
“Of course, in the race, it just shows that we have difficulties with the tyres. I think still, the tyre life. So, I think that should be our main priority.”
Asked whether he had spoken with Perez about his precarious situation, Verstappen responded: “Not about the situation.
“We just talk about what we can control and that’s of course our influence to have a faster car.”
He added: “We talk about the balance of the car. We talk about what we need from the car. Yeah, that’s always been a strong point.”
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