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“The Moment Verstappen Clicked With the RB-19”: Max’s Transforming Experiment Hailed for Dominating Perez in 2023

Published 09/06/2023, 9:15 AM EDT

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via Imago

Many world championships dominated by one team often see teammates become rivals. This scenario comes to the fold because of one simple logic, both drivers are driving the same championship-winning car. This is exactly where the ‘equal machinery’ debate stems from. However, in 2023, Max Verstappen has not given Sergio Perez a sniff after the fourth round in Baku. The Mexican fell off the wagon in challenging his teammate despite his initial ambitions. Everyone discredited Perez and rated him, at best, an experienced no. 2 at Red Bull. However, it has more to do with Verstappen’s connection with the RB19 than Sergio Perez‘s ability behind the single-seater as reported by the Race.

The Race’s latest YouTube video revealed an interesting tale from the race in Baku. We are all aware of the many balance changes drivers can make during the race to help them adjust to the race conditions. For Verstappen, the man responsible for helping him make such changes is his trackside engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. As revealed in the video, in Baku, GP made Verstappen change something that eradicated any weakness in Verstappen’s RB19.

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“Verstappen and his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase spent much of the Baku race playing around with the torque maps with Max adjusting his braking technique too. Then in the closing stages, GP suggested another change ‘Display 5 | Position 9’ and whatever that was, it was the moment Verstappen clicked with the RB19. While it was too late in the day to stop Perez winning that race, it was a big step towards eradicating the few relative strengths Verstappen that Perez could hope to have,” reported The Race journalist.

Since then, the Dutchman has won all of the races and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down. In fact, there is a growing belief that Verstappen might just win all of the remaining races. However, Red Bull’s boss Christian Horner was careful enough to not jinx it.

Christian Horner refuses to be carried away by the incredible form of Max Verstappen

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Verstappen has won 10 races in a row and as this incredible run of form continues the Dutchman he might just not lose. This has become the general understanding in the paddock as well. However, speaking after his record-breaking feat, Christian Horner put a lid on the high expectations.

via Reuters

“One day we will be defeated, That is inevitable and a certainty. The only question is when this will happen. Of course, we want to postpone this moment as long as possible. With each passing weekend, this great streak is expected to continue for some time to come,” said Horner.

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One can assure every person associated with Red Bull would want to see this hypothetical come true. The scenario that will make Red Bull the first team in the sport’s history to go undefeated in the entire season. However, before the Austrian team archives this invincible status, Horner is managing expectations. Still, do you think Red Bull can pull off the incredible feat of sweeping the season?

WATCH THIS STORY | Christian Horner Sparks Rivalry: Toto Wolff’s F2 Remark Refuted

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Written by:

Mahim Suhalka

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Mahim Suhalka is a senior F1 Author at EssentiallySports. Having written over 1000 articles, Mahim specializes in core sports coverage. Having followed the sport for a long time, his articles contain excellent analysis of the sport and he dives deeper into the technicalities of this complex sport.
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Edited by:

Aishwary Gaonkar