'Perez will pick his battles with Verstappen in 2022'

In Spain and Azerbaijan, Sergio Perez received clear team orders from Red Bull Racing. The Mexican complied nicely, but Lawrence Barretto thinks this will not be the case for a whole year.

That Max Verstappen is Red Bull Racing's frontrunner is no secret. The Dutchman carried the team almost single-handedly since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo and last season secured the first world title since 2013. As reigning champion, the Dutchman is the man everyone looks to within the team, but Perez is off to a much better start in 2022.

Verstappen is first in the championship, but a win in Monaco and a second place in Baku put Perez second in the championship. Perez was told in Azerbaijan that he could not fight Verstappen and complied. Barretto thinks the Red Bull driver will not do this every time.

"I still think Checo wants to win. He still feels like he can win the World Championship, but I think he will pick his battles. In Baku, he also realised that he didn't have the pace to beat Max, so this wasn't the fight for him, but that doesn't mean that it can't happen here (in Canada)," said the Formula1. com reporter in the Weekend Warm-Up.

In Canada, Perez will get another chance to fight with his teammate. During the last two qualifications the Mexican was faster than his teammate and he hopes to continue that in Canada. Compared to Baku, he will then have to have a better race pace to keep the leader in the championship behind him.