Perez Behind Verstappen: Red Bull's Tense Reveal

Red Bull’s latest analysis shows a notable gap between Perez and Verstappen, sparking potential tension within the team.

Even if Sergio Perez might be “very angry” at this statement, Red Bull’s Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan has explained how marginal gains constitute the half-second per lap difference he observes between Perez and Max Verstappen.

Perez has been under increased scrutiny in recent weeks following another alarming dip in form, now trailing Verstappen by 137 points in the drivers’ championship.

Monaghan estimated that it’s “not a controversial statement” to say that Verstappen is the faster of the two Red Bull drivers, explaining that small gains per corner for Verstappen create an overall difference of about half a second per lap.

It’s an opinion and a data analysis that Monaghan knows Perez might not like too much.

“I wouldn’t want to be rude to Checo, and he might bite me if he were sitting here, but I would say, generally, Max is a bit faster than Checo.”

“For me, it’s not a controversial statement. Checo might well be very angry with me. But it’s a fact, the estimated gap after these first 12 races is half a second, on average.”

“Say most circuits have 20 corners, think of it as an increment per corner. It’s tiny, the difference, per corner. Maybe he gains a quarter of a tenth in a corner? It’s almost negligible, but it adds up over a lap. Just to get to that little bit extra.”

“Max reaches the limit and gets a bit closer, and doesn’t massively exceed it in qualifying when he’s overdriving. The average comes out as a number in the end and if that’s the objective measure, so be it. I think there’s certainly a bit more to say, but Max also has his secrets that I can’t reveal. He’s quite good, isn’t he?”

“Max is a phenomenal talent, no doubt about it, and I wouldn’t say that in a negative way about Checo, because he keeps Max on his toes.”

“And sometimes, Alex Albon did that too. In Austria in 2020, I think Albon was headed for the race lead, he had a little tangle with Lewis Hamilton.”

“But Max tends to put himself in a situation where he gets what he wants in a race. Zandvoort last year, in the wet, in the dry, who comes out first and second? Max and Fernando Alonso. Everyone else is in the walls and gravel and all sorts of things, and these two come out.”

“Great drivers always have something extra.”