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Sergio Perez might have added a new twist this season by bunching up the championship. That's what Damon Hill felt after the Mexican driver won the race in Monaco and cut down his teammate Max Verstappen's championship lead to just 15 points.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, the 1996 F1 World Champion had nothing but praise for the Mexican, saying:
“I think he’s bunched up the whole championship, actually. If you look at it now, there was Sergio [Perez] saying in Spain he was upset he had been given team orders and he wants to fight for the title. But he’s only 15 points behind Max Verstappen now, so it’s tight and there are lots of drivers in the mix. In some ways, it’s just made it more of a close title fight for the rest of the season. We’ve had changes in form, so it was unusual to see Sergio ahead of Max on the grid [in Monaco]. Sergio likes Baku, which is the next race. You might find Sergio putting on a bit of a mid-season spurt and attack on the championship.”
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen feel a title battle won't change relationship between them
When questioned by the media if their relationship will evolve into something else with the title battle between the two teammates, the two Red Bull drivers had a funny exchange in the press.
Speaking at the post-race interviews in Monaco, Sergio Perez quipped, saying:
“We are still going to be in love, right?”
Max Verstappen responded to the Mexican, saying:
“Yeah, absolutely. Why would that change? We work really well as a team. We always try to optimise the car and work for the team and we can accept when someone does a good job or does a better job, and I think that’s very important because that’s how you are respectful to each other. May the best man win at the end, right?”
It does remain to be seen how close a battle Red Bull lets the two teammates have this season. Max Verstappen has more often than not had the edge over Sergio Perez in the partnership. While the Mexican is only 15 points behind Verstappen, it has a lot to do with the reigning champion suffering 2 DNFs in the first 3 races.
