Max Verstappen lauded as Sergio Perez faces damning criticism from F1 pundit

F1 pundit Martin Brundle recently praised Max Verstappen for his on-track prowess while criticizing Sergio Perez's recent subpar performances. The former F1 driver feels that even 'two Sergio Perezs' would be unable to keep Red Bull at the top of the grid.

Ever since Sergio Perez joined Red Bull in 2021, he has been unable to beat his teammate Max Verstappen. The Mexican has helped Red Bull score decent points and win the constructors' championship but has experienced several dips in his performances in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Checo started the current season on a high, securing second place in most races and staying close to Verstappen, who was winning races right from the get-go. After Miami GP, however, his form started to dip as he finished P4. In the next four races (Imola, Monaco, Canada, and Spain), Perez was unable to bag any podiums. In Monaco and Canada, he crashed out of the race.

On the other hand, Max Verstappen continues to dominate the sport and fight fiercely with other teams like McLaren and Ferrari. In recent races, he has been racing hard against the likes of Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, etc. His performances have allowed Red Bull to keep their lead in the constructors' championship.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Martin Brundle stated that if Red Bull had two Sergio Perez that had his current form, they would not be able to fight at the front of the grid and challenge for titles. He then started praising Max Verstappen's race pace, racecraft, and other skillset that the three-time world champion possesses. Brundle said (as quoted by PlanetF1),

“If you had two Sergio Perezs on Sergio’s current form, the team would be also-rans. Max is really having to stand up in the seat, use all of his talents in qualifying, on the start, with race craft, race pace, and tyre management. He’s having to bring every aspect of his skills and talents out,” Brundle said.

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Max Verstappen urges Red Bull to improve RB20 while supporting Sergio Perez

Max Verstappen talked about how Red Bull needs to pick up the pace in the development race with other teams like Ferrari and McLaren. He also showed support towards his teammate, Sergio Perez, and claimed that the massive gap between him and Checo proves that the RB20 is not fast enough. Verstappen said (via Autosport.com):

"I have been saying for weeks that we need to bring more performance to our car and everyone in the team knows that as well. So far, it looks like everyone around us is bringing more updates than we do. Of course, we have to work on that, we find more performance for our own car as well."

"At the moment we just lack some speed. The gap to Checo [Perez] is pretty big and I think that says a lot, because I don't think Checo has become worse," he added.

As of now, Max Verstappen leads the drivers' championship table with 227 points, while Sergio Perez is down in fifth place with 112 points.