Max Verstappen claimed victory in Saturday’s sprint race in the USA, owing to Red Bull’s new upgrades, but Sergio Perez admitted he didn’t receive the same changes
Sergio Perez concedes he doesn’t have the same Red Bull upgrades as Max Verstappen – which he admits he “sees a lot”.
The world champions hope to improve their performance at the United States Grand Prix by making tweaks to their car and they helped Verstappen take pole position for the sprint race, which he then converted into a win to extend his lead at the top of the standings.
Perez, in contrast finished ninth, and has since qualified in tenth for Sunday’s main event. The Mexican has long struggled to match the pace of his team-mate but admitted that he didn’t received the same upgrades as Verstappen, which he describes as nothing new.
Verstappen has long been seen as receiving preferential treatment with the Red Bull package geared towards his driving style. Perez though, who has not finished on the podium since April, admits he can see improvements within the car.
He said: “We made lots changes that will help us for tomorrow and no, I don’t have the same upgrades as Max, we see it a lot in fast corners, which there are a lot of, but in the end the car is working well. We have made progress, and with the adjustments we made, it was easier to drive.”
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko, who has huge influence over who the team’s drivers are, has done little to quash speculation that Perez’s seat is unsafe. He told Sky Germany: “Perez has a contract for 2025. If he delivers with performance, that will not be called into question. But Formula 1 is a competitive sport, which is why Daniel Ricciardo was also replaced.”
On the Mexican’s race performance he added: “Checo made up one place – that’s not really what we expected. The gap to Max was also quite big in terms of lap time.”
Red Bull have been overtaken as the leaders in the constructor’s championship with McLaren now top of the pile. The Austrian outfit once held a huge lead but that has been whittled away with the team largely relying on Verstappen to score their points.
The Dutchman is looking to hold off Lando Norris in the driver’s championship and finished ahead of the McLaren driver. It was Verstappen’s first time on the top step of the podium for nearly four months.
The world champion said after his victory at the Circuit of the Americas: “It was not too bad. It feels a bit like old times. The whole race, Ferrari was always very quick, but for us we were finally racing again. We had good pace.”
