Why Sergio Perez could struggle to stay in title contention against Max Verstappen: "It's not good that he couldn't win"

F1 pundit Scott Mitchell-Malm claims that Sergio Perez could struggle to stay in title contention against Max Verstappen as the season progresses. The Dutchman was in flying form in Miami, winning the race despite starting in P9 on the grid.

Perez, on the other hand, started on pole but was unable to win the race. His teammate Max Verstappen demonstrated a terrifying pace in Miami, picking off cars one by one on his way to the front.

The two-time world champion had a stellar initial stint on the hard compound tire, dwarfing Perez's stint on the medium compound tire.

Mitchell-Malm believes that Sergio Perez should have won Miami's race, given his starting position. The Briton claims Perez might struggle to keep up with Verstappen as the season progresses. Currently, the Mexican is 14 points behind his teammate after round five.

Speaking on the Race podcast, Mitchell-Malm said about Perez's title chances:

"It's not good that he couldn't win with Verstappen starting where he did. And if you can't win in those circumstances, he will struggle to stay in title contention because Verstappen will have very few of those weekends where he is out of position and Perez is given such an opportunity."

Sergio Perez on his relationship with Max Verstappen

According to Sergio Perez, he and his teammate Max Verstappen have maintained a 'mature' relationship despite Verstappen's current lead in the drivers' standings, with Perez currently in second place.

Initially, Perez was expected to play a supportive role to the Dutch driver at the start of the 2021 season. However, he gradually became more competitive within the Red Bull team.

Their relationship faced a challenge during the 2022 Brazilian GP, when Verstappen disregarded team instructions, resulting in noticeable tension within the team.

However, after the recent Miami GP, Sergio Perez trails Verstappen by 14 points in the standings. Perez claims that there is now a significant level of respect and maturity between the two drivers.

The Mexican said, as quoted by Motorsport.com:

"Inside it is a great atmosphere with the team. There is a very high level of respect between each other in the team, with all the engineers from their side or my side. I think we are both mature enough to know what's right and what's wrong. As long as that keeps being the case, then I don't expect anything to change."

Red Bull is clearly the class of the field at the moment, having won all five races so far this year. However, with the team expecting tougher times ahead due to a wind tunnel testing penalty, it remains to be seen if they can maintain their form.