The Verstappen-Pérez battle reminds Perez’s father of the one between Prost and Senna, not Gerhard Berger
The former F1 driver Gerhard Berger refuted the claims of Sergio Perez's father that his son and Max Verstappen are engaged in a battle reminiscent of that between the Brazilian and the Frenchman. According to him, Verstappen is in a league of his own this year.
Following the Miami Grand Prix, Antonio Pérez, Sergio’s father, stated that the rivalry between the two Red Bull drivers reminded him of the battles between Prost and Senna, teammates at McLaren.
« For me, it’s the new edition of Senna and Prost at McLaren,” he said. « We have two tigers in the same cage. They think the same way, they act the same way.»
Alonso, Verstappen’s main adversary according to Gerhard Berger
Since the Monaco Grand Prix happened and Verstappen has taken a 39-point lead over his teammate after Pérez’s mishaps during the first qualifying session on the Rock. Gerhard Berger expressed his disagreement with the father of the winner of the 2022 Monaco GP: “I recently read that Verstappen and Pérez, it’s a repetition of Senna versus Prost,” said the former Ferrari driver. “Yes, Verstappen is part of the championship and yes, Pérez is doing his best to stay close to Max. But nevertheless, for me, it seems like Verstappen is doing it all on his own.”
The Austrian believes that Max Verstappen’s biggest competitor, or at least the one who deserves to be mentioned, is Fernando Alonso. The 2005 and 2006 world champion has achieved five podium finishes in six races, more than any other driver except the Dutch double champion, and has qualified on the front row of the grid twice.
Making a parallel with his own 1988 season, the year when the Ferrari driver was behind the McLaren duo of Senna and Prost, Berger stated: « In a way, the 1988 season reminds me a little of this year. The circumstances are similar. I played the same role back then as Fernando Alonso does today. I was in a waiting position, often at the front. And if something happened… »
The busy schedule can cause mechanical problems for Red Bull.
So far, the greatest event that the Spanish has experienced is his second place achieved in Monaco, where he made the most of Pérez’s absence at the front of the grid to be the closest challenger to Verstappen.
Alonso is at risk of not winning any races this year without a double retirement from the Red Bull team. Berger, however, cautioned: “We must not forget that there are a lot more races than before. It is therefore difficult to believe that all races will go without incidents or technical issues. But in terms of performance, it is entirely possible.”
The Austrian also believes that by the end of his career, in 2028 or later, Max Verstappen will have surpassed numerous records in Formula 1. This includes the highest number of wins by Lewis Hamilton (103) and the number of world championships (record co-held by the British driver and Michael Schumacher, 7 titles).
I have confidence in Max, he can beat all the existing records in Formula 1[…]. He says it’s not important to him today, but that will change.
