There is no jealousy between Perez and Verstappen
Despite being close in the championship and having similar performances, Sergio Perez claims that he does not feel any jealousy towards his teammate Max Verstappen, who is sometimes favored by their team.
Arriving in 2021 within the Red Bull team, after being replaced by Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, Sergio Perez has to team up with the reigning World Champion, Max Verstappen. The Mexican had a first season in blue and red far from the performances of his teammate, often serving as a pawn in Red Bull’s strategy. Despite this, Perez has been retained by the Austrian team for 2022 and is experiencing a season start much closer to his teammate’s performances.
However, Red Bull still seems to consider Perez as a number 2, and has already prioritized Verstappen’s championship over Perez’s success, as in Barcelona, where the Mexican was asked to give up his position to his teammate, thus losing a potential victory for Perez in favor of Verstappen.
Despite these events, Perez doesn’t feel any jealousy towards his teammate, which could have been the case before with other teammates. Perez and Verstappen’s relationship is very important for Red Bull, and it works well. Perez expresses his thoughts on his relationship with the Dutchman: “I think that sometimes in the past, I may have felt jealousy from a teammate. Because obviously, we all want to win, but when the guy next to you wins, you have to give him credit. He did better than you, he won, and you have to accept it and also be proud of what he has achieved.”
And I think that few people can do it, but I think that between us, when I win, when Max wins, there is always… we are proud of each other and it’s something good between us.
On his part, Max Verstappen has been accustomed to healthy relationships throughout his career, like with Carlos Sainz at Toro Rosso or the iconic duo with Daniel Ricciardo. Despite his past relationships, Verstappen claims that his relationship with Perez is the best he has experienced in the past.
Of course, I started very young in Formula 1 and I also had, I think, a very good relationship with Daniel, declared Max Verstappen. But at the time, I was only 18, 19 years old and I think today I am someone completely different.
« Therefore, I would say that the relationship I have with Checo [Perez] is the best, simply because I have matured a lot myself. And I believe that it enhances the relationships we can have with each other. »
Thanks to their duo, Verstappen is leading the world championship and Red Bull is leading the constructor’s championship.
