Helmut Marko doubts Sergio Perez will be able to match Max Verstappen over a full season – but warned people not to underestimate the Mexican.
Verstappen leads the drivers' standings after the first four races of the year, but his advantage is a slender one. Red Bull have won every one of those Grands Prix, but the victories have been split equally between its two drivers.
The defending champion won in Bahrain before Perez took advantage of his team-mate's qualifying woes to take the chequered flag in Jeddah. Car issues for the Mexican saw Verstappen win in Melbourne before Perez showed off his street circuit prowess in Baku last weekend.
While it remains early in the season, Perez is doing all he can to prove that he is capable of going toe-to-toe with the dominant Dutchman. Just six points separate them after those first four races, but team adviser Marko expects the gap to have grown after this weekend's Miami Grand Prix.
"There, I see Max in front again," he told Osterreich. "In qualifying, as in Baku, [Charles] Leclerc could be fast, [but] the race should be ours again. And I'm sticking to my guns – over the season, Max Verstappen is the man, he's the more consistent one."
But despite that prediction, the Austrian made it clear he has been impressed by the development of Perez in a role which has proven too tricky to handle for his predecessors. He spoke briefly of the Mexican's development when recapping the Azerbaijan GP.
"[Verstappen] was unlucky with the safety car, yes, but Sergio on a street circuit, he has the most podiums here," said the 80-year-old. "So don't underestimate Sergio. He changed a lot since he came to us. He started working!"
Meanwhile, a confidence-filled Perez went as far as to claim that he would be leading the championship had it not been for those mechanical woes in Australia. The 33-year-old said: "There is only so much you can say outside of the car, I think it's important to deliver on the track.
"I think without all the issues that we had in qualifying in Melbourne, we should be leading the championship. So, definitely there is everything to believe that we can do well. I'm fighting for [the championship], but I also know that it's a massive road ahead, so I I need to keep my head down and just keep delivering."
