Max Verstappen Stealing Sergio Perez’s Only Advantage Gets Revealed as Cause for the Mexican’s Downfall

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that, currently, there isn’t a better driver in the world of F1 than Max Verstappen. The Dutchman ruthlessly dominated the 2023 season on course to win his third championship, shattering multiple records. However, despite his faultless and consistent driving in the past, an F1 expert believes he’s added another skill to his racing talents, which has been the cause of his teammate Sergio Perez’s misery.

The Mexican started the 2023 season on equal footing with Verstappen, with his desire to fight for the championship right on course, which was brutally mocked. However, he soon fell off the wagon and succumbed to the pressure. During this time, his biggest rival developed and stole a skill from the Mexican he was lacking in the past.

The King of the Streets, a.k.a. Sergio Perez, had a special set of skills in his arsenal that made him so good on narrow street circuits. We saw glimpses of it in the first four races as Perez won the race on the Baku City Circuit. However, according to F1 expert Peter Windsor in his latest YouTube video, Verstappen filled this gap in his racing skills. And that led to Perez’s downfall.

When asked if Verstappen is the finest F1 driver of the modern era, he said, “I felt that Perez’s feel for traction and the back end of the car, applying power is what was one thing that Max needed to improve. That’s something that Perez showed out of slow corners of Baku, Monaco, and other circuits. And I think Max has pretty much done that now. Max is pretty much with Perez. I think that’s why Perez was struggling more in the back end of 2023 than he was in the previous year because Max has now covered that little base as well. So he’s even better than he was in that area, probably as good as Perez now.”

Read More: From Daniel Ricciardo to Sergio Perez – Which Red Bull Teammate Challenged Max Verstappen the Most?

In fact, the Dutchman has the same opinion as well, as he time and again has showcased he’s much, much faster than Perez in equal machinery.

Max Verstappen embarrassed Sergio Perez with a simple and honest admission

We all remember the scenario during the Belgian GP where Verstappen started the race in P6, and Perez was on the front row in P2. However, the Dutchman was in the lead in no time and finished the race 22 seconds ahead of his Red Bull teammate, who crossed the line in the same position he started. This gave the fans a clear comparison of the difference in pace between the two drivers in equal machinery.

This became a topic of discussion during the Japanese GP as well. We are all aware that Perez’s weakest point is his qualifying pace. So when Verstappen was lapping 0.7 seconds faster than Perez, he made a simple admission, embarrassing the Mexican. When the interviewer pointed out, “The entire weekend, you’ve been a lot faster than Checo. Now, again, 0.7 seconds. Do you have an explanation for this? Is there something?” Verstappen replied, “No, the only thing I can say is our cars are the same.”

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It’s all been downhill for Sergio Perez ever since he openly challenged Max Verstappen for the championship. He still has high hopes for 2024. Let’s see if he can shoulder the weight of the expectations this time.