Sergio Perez has remained defiant over his chances of winning his first world title in 2023.
The Red Bull driver enjoyed a tremendous start to the season as he claimed early victories in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.
The opening four races of the season were won by either Max Verstappen or Perez, and with two a piece, one would dare to dream.
However, the form of the Mexican has plummeted largely down to qualifying woes that have squandered Perez’s chances of beating his teammate.
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Verstappen now leads the championship by 53 points and has Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton breathing down his neck.
The sour turn of form has made headlines and due to the cutthroat nature of the sport, the chances of Perez remaining a Red Bull driver have been in question.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has backed his driver, adamant that Perez will return to form.
Although given the lack of time Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon had to turn things around, Perez will be praying his performances can drastically improve.
The Mexican didn’t register a single point in Monaco and could only climb to 4th in Spain.
In a conversation with RacingNews365, Perez re-iterated his quality and belief that he can still lift the F1 title.
“I’ve been a match for Max since the beginning of the season,” he said.
“One way or another, sometimes [I’ve been] better or worse, and it’s what I believe you have to be.
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“Being teammates with Max, it’s probably the toughest thing you can have, because he’s a driver that [doesn’t have many faults], but I do believe that it’s possible to beat him.
“The speed is there. If the [Monaco Qualifying] crash hadn’t happened, and I was half-a-second off the pace, then I would be more concerned,
“But the positive thing is we have been able to swing things around and I want to get victories on my side.
“I have adapted a lot better to the new car.”