Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko has admitted that “nobody looks good” against Max Verstappen, who won yet again on Sunday at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Not even starting from sixth could deter the reigning World Champion, who breezed through the field to lead by Lap 17.
The Dutchman caught Sergio Perez with ease and overtook him down the Kemmel straight.
There was nothing Perez could do but wave Verstappen past, as the championship leader’s pace was far superior.
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His win was remarkably his eighth consecutive P1 of the season, whilst it also marked his 10th victory of 2023 overall.
Perez finished a distant second, just over 22 seconds behind Verstappen.
It certainly didn’t make Perez look very good, but Marko admitted that “nobody looks good” when alongside Verstappen.
“The whole weekend was very strong,” Marko told Sky Deutschland. “We knew he was one of the top drivers.
“Nobody looks good next to Verstappen and you have to deal with that psychologically when you see that someone is better in every phase than you are.
“You compete to win, [but] you can’t do that against Max Verstappen.”
Perez appears to have finally recovered from his recent difficult period, which saw him fail to reach Q3 in five consecutive events.
In that same space of time, he only claimed one podium.
However, Checo has now claimed back-to-back podiums and achieved consecutive Q3 appearances, suggesting that he’s rediscovering his speed again.
With his positive performances in Hungary and Belgium, Perez is keen to claim a podium at every race after the summer break, which lasts for four weeks.
“I don’t want to leave the podium until the end of the year,” Perez said.
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“It has been a tough time, but we scored great points for the team. I’m looking forward to the break and coming back to Zandvoort very strong.”
The championship is very much over for Perez following his recent poor run, as he’s fallen 125 points behind Verstappen.
He does sit comfortably in P2 though, something he’ll seemingly have no choice but to settle for.