Red Bull has estimated that the marked difference between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen comes down to the latter being “half a tenth per corner” quicker per lap.
Perez has endured a wretched run over recent times which has seen him contribute a meagre 28 points in the last eight rounds to drop 146 points behind Verstappen.
The Mexican’s current slump has come at a moment when Red Bull is sustaining increased pressure at the top, as McLaren has eradicated its advantage to 42 points.
But while the side’s senior management held a meeting to evaluate his position, Red Bull has elected to retain Perez alongside Verstappen beyond the summer break.
Red Bull is now attempting to understand how it can support Perez to inspire a return to the positive level that saw him attain several podiums earlier in the campaign.
However, Red Bull Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan has conceded the prevalent gap can be attributed to Verstappen being a superior driver compared to his team-mate.
“I don’t want to be rude to Checo, and he could very well take my head off if he was sitting here,” Monaghan said.
“But I would say, in general, Max is a little quicker than him. Let’s say a circuit has 20 corners. The difference per corner is very small.
“Maybe Verstappen gains half a tenth per corner, which adds up over a lap.”
“He gets to the limit and stays a little bit closer to it, and doesn’t go too far over it in qualifying when he overdoes it.
“If that’s the difference, then the average will show up as a number eventually.”
“If that’s the objective measurement, so be it. I think there’s a little bit more, maybe, but Perez is pretty good, isn’t he?”
Perez’s struggles have become more pronounced since the competition converged on Red Bull, with both McLaren and Mercedes becoming consistent race winners.
Monaghan suspects that Red Bull’s diminished advantage emanates from its rivals tempering the inherent car limitations that made the RB19 so dominant last term.
“If you look at our lap time as a yardstick, it’s a competitive car,” he argued. “And we’ve had a good start to the season, which has been nice.
“But clearly, we’re under a bit more pressure now. In terms of strengths and weaknesses, I think I was asked last year: ‘What makes it so good?’.
“It has the same issues as the other cars. They might just be smaller and we’re able to get a bit more lap time per corner.
“They all have the same characteristics of the entry behaviour, the behaviour through the apex of the corner and the issue of the stability of the exit.
“Unless we are allowed into other teams’ garages, debriefings and data, then it is quite difficult to judge.”
Discussion about this post