Max Verstappen a level above his Red Bull teammate as Sergio Perez warned of the ‘truth’

Max Verstappen is a level above his Red Bull teammate Sergio 'Checo' Perez. That's the view of former McLaren driver and F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya. When questioned by Motorsport, the Colombian was quite confident about how the battle between the Red Bull drivers will play out.

According to Montoya, it was evident last season as well that Verstappen was clearly the better of the two drivers. Initial hiccups saw the Dutchman being uncomfortable with the car, which is when Perez got the better of him. As the season progressed, however, it became clear who was the better driver. Montoya said:

"If you look at the beginning of the year, when Max didn't feel comfortable and 'Checo' could drive him (at Red Bull), 'Checo' was faster than him. Is 'Checo' a better driver than Max? The truth is, no. He is a very good driver, but I don't think he is at Max's level. But he could drive it and Max couldn't."

Montoya also credited Red Bull and Mercedes for developing their cars throughout the season, saying:

"And that's where the team does a really good job. They understand what you need and make it better. This is where I think it gets really cool. What Red Bull has always done well is the amount of progress they make with the car. They can really develop the car. Same as Mercedes. The development rate of the cars compared to any other team, they are in a different league."

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Max Verstappen didn't put a foot wrong in the 2022 F1 season

Speaking about Max Verstappen's driving in 2022, Christian Horner heaped praise on the level of consistency and speed shown by the Red Bull driver. On being questioned by Motorsport over how dominant the 2022 F1 season was, compared to Mercedes, the Red Bull team principal said:

"There’s been years of domination with Mercedes, but I think as an individual driver, probably yes. He’s won the most grands prix in a year now, within 22 races. On top of that, he’s won two sprint races, and he’s not won all of them from pole position."

Horner continued:

"He’s had to fight and race for a lot of those victories. I think when we look back at the end of the year, it is an absolutely outstanding year that Max has driven. Max Verstappen hasn’t put a wheel wrong. He’s been perfect throughout the season. It’s incredible the level of consistency that he’s been able to achieve."

Max Verstappen will be defending the title again this season in what is predicted to be one of the toughest title battles of his career. It will be interesting to see how he fares this season at Red Bull.