Ralf Schumacher: "it would be logical to say goodbye to the Mexican"

In his column for Germany's Sky Sports F1, Ralf Schumacher looked back at the race weekend in Baku. This week he discussed, among other things, the rivalry between Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez.

Pérez won both the sprint race and the main race, closing in on team-mate Verstappen, who finished third in the sprint race after a fight with George Russell where the Dutchman sustained damage. In the main race, the two-time World Champion finished second after an ill-timed pit stop allowed his Mexican teammate to run ahead of him.

Ralph Schumacher also sees Pérez having the potential to be faster than his teammate at times, but thinks the Mexican does not have the consistency to fight for the world title: "He sometimes makes mistakes under pressure when he is not happy with his car. Verstappen doesn't make those mistakes and that's why I think he will have the upper hand over the whole season."

Friction between Red Bull drivers?

After the Brazilian Grand Prix in late 2022, many doubted whether the relationship between Verstappen and Pérez was as good as they first made it seem. Looking ahead to next year, the pressure is therefore on for Pérez, Schumacher believes: "If there was a difficult relationship between the two drivers, it would be logical to say goodbye to the Mexican. If you look closely, you can see that they don't get along that well. If a team has two drivers who don't fit together, it could be detrimental to the team."