Sergio Perez admits Red Bull STRESS amid Max Verstappen pressure

max verstappen, checo perez — Photo: © LAT Images

Sergio Perez

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Perez admits Red Bull STRESS amid Verstappen pressure

The Mexican driver feels the pressure as he struggles to match Verstappen's pace

Michael Clarke

Wednesday 23 August 2023 20:57

Underfire driver Sergio Perez has spoken out about how challenging it is to have Max Verstappen as a teammate.

The Mexican driver has felt the added pressure of having a teammate who has taken the last eight grand prix victories.

“It's very difficult of course to have Max as a teammate.” Perez told ViaPlay in an interview.

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"Because he pushes you to the maximum and it creates a lot of pressure and stress. It's not easy to cope with that, a guy that is always delivering the 100 per cent out of the car."

Max Verstappen heads into his home Grand Prix hoping to make it nine wins in a row

With a string of poor qualifying results, Perez hasn’t been able to cope with the dominating pace of Max Verstappen this season.

'Verstappen is unique'

Verstappen has only ever had one of his five teammates he has had in the sport place above him, when Daniel Ricciardo finished ahead of him in the drivers' championship in 2016 and 2017.

The two-time world champion goes into this weekend’s Dutch GP trying to equal the record of nine straight race wins, set by the German driver Sebastian Vettel in 2013.

"I don't think we should take anything away from the talent that he is and how hard he works, how he delivers and how focused he is," Perez added

"That is something unique to have and something I learned a lot from myself. Yeah, I've had a great time."