Sergio Perez has got no chance of challenging Max Verstappen for this year's F1 World Championship, according to one of Red Bull's leading figures.
The duo have won all eight Grand Prix races between them in 2023, with the reigning world champion taking the chequered flag on six of those occasions. And despite initial hopes among fans that the Mexican could push the Dutch protege all the way this time around, the gap between the pair is now 69 points with Verstappen gunning for a fifth straight win in Austria this weekend.
The constructors' race is also as good as sown up already. There is 154 points separating Christian Horner's men and next challengers Mercedes, who are slowly getting to grips with F1's new era.
There has been no shortage of tension between the two teammates following their spat in Brazil last year, when Verstappen refused to give up a place to Perez, inadvertently harming his hopes of finishing second in the overall standings. But now Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has insisted the dynamic is the right one for the team, even if he doesn't think the pair are at the same level.
“We take luxury problems seriously,” Marko said, via F1 Insider. “As for Perez, soberly he’s done the job we expect him to do. He should help secure victory in the constructors’ championship and the current standings prove him right. He has also shown that he can still win races when he is at his best.
“The question of whether he is good enough does not arise for us. Because Max is getting better and better and the question you have to ask yourself is rather a different one."
And Marko, who also oversees the Red Bull driver development programme, implied there wasn't a single driver on the grid who could replace Perez and threaten Verstappen's current dominance, adding: “Who would be the alternative? Is there anyone who could really challenge Max right now? To be honest, I don’t see anyone there.”
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Perez himself has also begun to express concern at his failure to go toe-to-toe with the two-time world champion. He could only manage sixth place last time out in Canada, admitting he need to assess his current situation amid a drop in form.
"Yeah, I’m very, very concerned," he told reporters. “We just didn’t have the pace and we don’t understand why, that’s the weird thing, so we have to figure it out.
“We’re going to sit down and look back because we know what we are capable of and it’s just important for us to understand what’s going on. We had a good start to the weekend, but we made some changes, we did the tyres a little bit different, so I don’t know if there’s anything in that.”
