The dynamic within Red Bull has been alarmingly lop-sided in 2023. While one of their drivers has been single-handedly schooling the entire grid, their other car has always been desperately lagging behind. Couple that with some unfortunate incidents from last year carrying forward into this year, it’s really a surprise how Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen can cope with each other in the same setup. By last year, we obviously mean Brazil 2022, where it all kicked off between the duo.

Sergio Perez may still think that the team and Verstappen are ungrateful for his contributions. However, there is no hiding from the fact that this year, he’s been absolutely nowhere near the brilliance or pace of the Dutch lion. And with the early season championship hopes that Perez was so outspoken about how does his 2023 season look like when put into perspective?

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The Japanese GP last week really epitomized the gap between Verstappen and Perez. While the Mexican sat in the garage waiting, Verstappen stormed to victory and single-handedly won Red Bull the Constructors’ championship. However, according to ex-Ferrari boss, Peter Windsor, Sergio Perez is the reason why Verstappen has been so elite this year.

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On his YouTube channel, while breaking down the Japanese GP, he explained, “Yeah, Checo [Perez] played his role, of course he did. Won races, lots of testing [and] lots of development. And also, a very good teammate. If you take out some of the early season comments, in reality, his ability has allowed Max [Verstappen] to get on a do what he does with his own ability.”

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And while they may not look eye to eye now, there was a time when Verstappen publicly acknowledged the Mexican’s immense contributions.

Max Verstappen used to win “because of Checo”

Back in 2021, the story of the Bulls wasn’t so different. Verstappen was the front-runner and Perez did his best wingman efforts. And as the Mexican Minister of Defense ground Lewis Hamilton’s onslaught to a halt at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, Verstappen, the newly crowned champion, was quick to shower praise.

He was quoted as saying, “I also want to say thank you to Checo, he’s been a brilliant team-mate. Checo is a legend.”

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Has Sergio Perez lost his way while chasing the unbeatable Max Verstappen?