Perez praises Verstappen: "Obviously a great reference to have"

Sergio Perez has been alongside Max Verstappen for six months and the new Red Bull Racing driver is impressed by his teammate. Perez hopes to approach the level of the leader in the world championship step by step. For this he asks for time and patience.

Perez always sees Verstappen performing

"Max obviously is a very talented driver – very, very complete. And within the team, you can see he’s been with the team for a few years already and he knows exactly what he needs out of the car every time. If there is a change of conditions, or if there is something happening, he just adapts very quickly. He is operating at a very high level, within the team in this car. He’s certainly at his peak with the team. That’s obviously a great reference to have," Perez told GP Racing.

The Mexican driver has always been one of the guys who has raced for the same team for years. He stresses that this constancy is very important and that a new environment takes time. "It’s a big challenge, you know, especially when you spend such a long time in one team – you realise why consistency is very good," he states. "When I come here, I see how Max is with the car, with the team, how adapted he is, how he is delivering 100% from FP1 until the final lap of the race."

Experience at an F1 team important

Perez remembers well the benefits that this gave him at Force India/Racing Point. "That’s something that I used to do at Racing Point, because I had experience there. But changing that environment, it’s just different, you know, it’s not natural yet. I’m finding myself that I’m having to think a lot about what I do in the car, the way I am driving. I’m changing my driving style a lot during the weekend, to adapt to the car."

The 31-year-old driver learns something extra every weekend, and that's what earned him victory at the Baku City Circuit last week. The interview was held before his first Red Bull win. That means we can expect even more from Verstappen's teammate in 2021.