"If Max went to Mercedes": Sergio Perez claims Max Verstappen would struggle to adjust to Mercedes car

Max Verstappen would have struggled to adapt to the Mercedes W12 had he joined the team in 2021, claims his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen's Red Bull Racing RB16B saw him clinch his maiden drivers' world championship in 2021. For Perez, however, the car proved to be a different experience altogether.

When asked what it was like switching to the Honda-engined Red Bull after being with Mercedes-powered Racing Point in 2020, Sergio Perez was quoted by GPFans as saying:

“Yes. Of course, even as a driver you underestimate those things until you live them, you experience them. Driving a different power unit, it’s a completely different task. Driving a completely different philosophy of car with a higher rake versus a lower rake, it’s a completely different task."

Red Bull has employed a high-rake system over the years with better downforce and cornering ability, at the cost of straight-line speed. Mercedes, on the other hand, have always opted for a low-rake philosophy which puts more emphasis on power and straightline speed.

Perez then went on to compare the learning curve if it were the other way around, i.e., a hypothetical move involving Verstappen going from Honda to Mercedes power, by saying:

“The way you approach things are just extremely different and you have to learn new techniques. Basically, what I used to do, nothing really worked here [with Red Bull]. It would be the same, for example, if Max (Verstappen) went to Mercedes. They [the cars] are just very different. They produce very similar lap times, but the way they get the lap time is extremely different.”

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Christian Horner finds it difficult to compare Max Verstappen's championship to Sebastian Vettel's

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is hard-pressed to pick between his past and present champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen .

Vettel clinched Red Bull's maiden world championship when he won the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton in P2. 11 years later, Max Verstappen crossed the finish line with Hamilton in his wake to win his first world championship in what must have felt like deja vu for Red Bull fans.

When asked to pick between Vettel and Verstappen's achievements during an interview at the FIA Champions' press conference, Horner said:

"It's always difficult to make comparisons but I think the first title was very special because that one was against the odds as well. This one feels equally as special as that very first title. I think the intensity and the competitiveness of this one has been insane."

As the reigning champion, Max Verstappen has chosen to sport No. 1 on his Red Bull instead of his usual No. 33 when the next season kicks off in Bahrain on March 18, 2022.

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