Sergio Perez recently shared his insights on the unique challenges posed by having Max Verstappen as his teammate at Red Bull.
The Mexican emphasised the intense pressure and stress that arises from being constantly compared to a driver of Verstappen’s calibre.
The Dutchman has won the last eight Grand Prixs in a row and claimed victory in three out of three Sprint races so far this season.
Perez told media sources: “It’s very difficult of course to have Max as a teammate.
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“Because he pushes you to the maximum and it creates a lot of pressure and stress.
“It’s not easy to cope with that, a guy that is always delivering the 100 percent out of the car.”
Due to a string of poor qualifying results, Perez hasn’t been able to cope with Verstappen’s domination of this F1 season.
Perez currently sits 125 points behind Max Verstappen in the Driver’s Standings.
The Mexican got off to a strong start to the season, indicating that the battle for the world championship may be close.
However, his performances dovetailed after a crash during qualifying at the Monaco GP.
Following this fateful crash, Perez failed to qualify in the top ten for five consecutive races and saw any hopes of a title battle slip away.
Verstappen has grown accustomed to dominating his F1 teammates at Red Bull.
He has only had one teammate – Daniel Ricciardo – finish above him in the driver’s championship, which occurred in 2016 and 2017.
The two-time world champion heads into this weekend’s Dutch GP with the goal of equalling the F1 record of nine straight race wins.
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This lofty achievement was set in 2013 by the German driver Sebastian Vettel, who also raced for Red Bull.
Perez commented: “I don’t think we should take anything away from the talent that he is and how hard he works, how he delivers and how focused he is.
“That is something unique to have and something I learned a lot from myself. Yeah, I’ve had a great time.”