Red Bull chief not worried about Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s title rivalry to turn ugly like previous pairings

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko stated that he was not worried about a fallout between Max Verstappen and Sergio reminiscent of previous Red Bull pairings.

The Austrian team has always allowed their drivers to race against each other on the track despite having clear a favorite off the track. Red Bull has seen many heated team driver rivalries in the past including the pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber from 2009-2013, and Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen from 2016-2018.

As per ORF Sport, Marko is confident that the current driver pairing wouldn't go down the same path. He said:

“Worried about a repeat of the Vettel-Webber and Verstappen-Ricciardo incidents? Not at all, for now, everything is going well and both were going to the limit. At least Max and Checo can drive freely, as they have done so far. They are two sensible drivers and intelligent enough not to do stupid things in the racetrack."

"All in all, Max Verstappen was stronger than me this Sunday" - Sergio Perez

Reigning two-time world champion Max Verstappen was in a league of his own in Miami, winning from P9 and taking the maximum points. Sergio Perez, who started from P1, conceded that the Dutch driver was superior to him in Miami. He said:

"All in all, Verstappen was stronger than me this Sunday. We have to investigate why that was the case and during the race weekend in Imola, we have to get back to our normal level. The performance that Verstappen showed was unattainable to me. We need to understand why that was. The tire story didn't help, but overall he was the better driver. I've been stronger on other weekends but this Sunday Max was the better one. He did a good job, but we need to understand what went wrong on our end."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also discussed Verstappen's performance over the weekend in Miami, saying:

"I think if he'd been on the other strategy as well the performance would have been very similar. I think he was obviously frustrated with himself after quali, that he made a mistake, and then obviously didn't get the chance to rectify that. And I think he was confident coming into the race today and just wanted to do something slightly different."

It will be fascinating to see if the Mexican driver can challenge Max Verstappen in the European leg of the season and keep up with him in the championship battle this season.