When Daniel Ricciardo joined McLaren, his performances were nothing like they should’ve been. That’s to say that he was underperforming. Pretty badly. When his then-teammate Lando Norris was asked if he had sympathy for the struggling Ricciardo, he didn’t mince his words. Norris said, “I would hate to say it, but I would say no. People will probably hate me for saying it.” That’s the truth about Formula 1. It’s cutthroat. It’s the personification of ‘survival of the fittest.’ So, it makes sense that Max Verstappen has no sympathy for his struggling teammate. At least, that’s what we gathered from the Japanese GP.

Can you imagine that there was a time in 2023 when Sergio Perez was a legitimate title contender? As implausible as that may seem now, considering Verstappen’s dominance recently, it’s true. But everything turned downhill for the Mexican at the Miami GP. Since then, he’s been playing catch-up (even more so with other drivers catching up to him). Qualifying at the Japanese GP all but proved one thing.

Max Verstappen is in a league of his own at the Japanese GP

The RB19 is the quickest car on the grid. It’s evident with what Verstappen has done all season. Considering that, you would expect Perez to be up there with him. If not in P1, a bare minimum would be a P2. With just six races left after the Japanese GP and Red Bull still not having sealed the Constructors’ Championship, you can imagine how that played out. Since his performances have taken a dip, Perez has faced a lot of criticism, and his qualifying performance only made things worse.

After Friday’s running, Tommy from the P1 with Matt & Tommy Podcast said, “Perez is in danger of maybe being half a second off Max rather than being second like he sometimes is.” His prediction came true at Suzuka, with Verstappen out-qualifying Perez by a whopping 0.773s. If Perez had been in P2 despite that, it wouldn’t have mattered too much. But the thing is, there are three drivers between Verstappen in P1 and Perez in P5. 

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In a post-qualifying interview, Verstappen was asked, “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?” He nonchalantly stated, “No, the only thing I can say is our cars are the same.” At this point, the Mexican Defence Minister has no defense to save himself from the humiliation Verstappen puts him through every race weekend. But there is a possible reason why Verstappen can just extract more out of the car.

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Red Bull’s development doesn’t suit Sergio Perez

Verstappen and Perez’s cars might be the same, but something’s just not sitting right with the Mexican. What’s it that Perez can’t get used to? The RB19’s development path. If you compare the 2022 and 2023 seasons, they’ve had similar trajectories for Perez. He started both seasons well, but his performances faltered once Red Bull began developing its car. Considering Red Bull has a clear hierarchy in its team—Verstappen is the No.1, and Perez is the No.2—many concluded that the Milton-Keynes team favored Verstappen while improving its car.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was recently asked to comment on the same. He said, “No, that is not true. At the beginning of 2022, the car suffered a lot of understeer. This was due to the car being overweight. In the long run, you will not be successful with an overweight car, but as the car became lighter, the car went more to a ‘neutral’ balance—or even a bit more oversteer.” Perez prefers a car that understeers, but Verstappen’s driving style is more suited to an oversteer setup. As the car developed in both seasons, it tended to an oversteer feel, giving Verstappen the edge over Perez. The reason for Verstappen’s dominance over Perez could be this. Or it could be that Verstappen is just that good.

What is your consensus on this? Should Max Verstappen show sympathy toward Sergio Perez?

WATCH THIS STORY | Sergio Perez Caught in the Crossfire as Sebastian Vettel Dismisses All Attempts to Downplay Verstappen’s Dominance