Sergio Perez’s P2 finish in Spa labeled as “victory” by Helmut Marko after “sovereign” Max Verstappen took home checkered flag

Sergio Perez's loss to teammate Max Verstappen (a second-place finish) at the 2023 F1 Belgian Grand Prix was labeled as a "victory" for the former by Red Bull's advisor, Dr. Helmut Marko, stating that Verstappen's P1 was "sovereign."

GPBlog quoted Marko:

"It was so sovereign. He [Verstappen] was really incredibly strong."

"For Perez, that second place is a victory."

This could mean one of two things for the Mexican in the other Red Bull; that second-place finish after a series of rather disappointing Grands Prix is a metaphorical victory, or that he, or anyone else, simply cannot defeat Max Verstappen, who won his eighth consecutive race this season.

Sergio Perez had been suffering a little in the midst of the season, failing to get out of Q1 during the qualifying sessions of five consecutive races. However, he finished in points for most of them owing to his racecraft and the power of the RB19.

While this was happening, Max Verstappen was easily taking victory in all of the races, increasing his dominance and lead in the driver's world championship. He has so many points that he could singlehandedly lead the team in the constructor's championship as well. However, Perez is finding his place in second in the championship at the same time.

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Red Bull could win all of the races in 2023 with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, believes Helmut Marko

Red Bull have won every single Grand Prix this season, and have extended a Formula 1 world record, by winning 13 races in a row (one of which is the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix).

At the start of the season, team principal Christian Horner was a little doubtful about winning all of the races in a single season, as he feared the reliability. But, the team hasn't faced a single such issue up until now. Helmut Marko mentioned that Red Bull believes they can pull something off like this, saying (via GPBlog):

"We want to continue like this. It might be unrealistic, but we are really starting to believe it can be done."

Mercedes F1 team, during the 2016 season, came very close to winning this, when both their drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were battling for the world championship (the latter won). There were only two races where the Mercedes did not cross the line first, which were eventually won by Red Bull, one of them marking Max Verstappen's first F1 victory (Spain).