Sergio Perez explains latest massive pace gap after Max Verstappen crushes team-mate

Sergio Perez claims a combination of one error on his part and a need to nurse his Red Bull RB19 home inflated his final margin of defeat against Max Verstappen at Spa.

Starting P6 at the Belgian Grand Prix due to a five-place grid drop for taking a new gearbox, Verstappen was taking the lead from his Red Bull team-mate Perez by Lap 17 of 44.

From there Verstappen was unstoppable, the Dutchman going on to win with a margin north of 22 seconds over Perez, his eighth win in a row and 10th of the F1 2023 campaign.

Sergio Perez had an off and had to bring RB19 home

Speaking to Sky F1 after the race, Perez was asked whether the win truly ever was on the table for him at Spa-Francorchamps.

He would explain that after Verstappen had come through, he went off at Turn 11 which caused the gap to grow, and then a “too aggressive” setup from Red Bull, considering this was the first extended running in dry conditions of the weekend, meant Perez’s task turned to ensuring he made the chequered flag for a Red Bull one-two.

“Especially on that second stint he pulled away, good gap, and then I went off into Turn 11 and the gap got bigger,” said Perez.

“So from that point onwards it was all about making sure that we brought it home, because we were a bit too aggressive with the car setup, you know not having any practice so it was important just to make sure we would bring the car home.”

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With Perez’s title challenge having come off the rails since he and Verstappen shared two wins apiece to start the season, Verstappen now on a streak of eight in a row, Perez was asked to explain where the performance gap comes from when they are driving the same RB19.

And on top of the factors from the Belgium race which he already discussed, Perez also is not about to play down the ability of Verstappen in this equation.

“I mean, there’s nothing to be taken away from Max certainly,” said Perez. “He did a tremendous race and he has done a tremendous season.

“But the gap looked bigger today due to the reasons that I just mentioned, because we had to make sure we brought it home once the result was settled.

“But certainly, he has done a tremendous job and he’s very talented. I think around this team they’re getting the maximum out of the weekends, weekend after weekend, which is really impressive.”

Asked whether he can give Verstappen more of a challenge in the second-half of the F1 2023 campaign, Perez replied: “That will be my target.

“We have this summer break to make sure we get on top of things. We have a bit of time and hopefully, we are able to find something that can bring us to the form we had earlier in the season.”

Verstappen becoming a three-time World Champion is now a foregone conclusion, with the Dutchman 125 points clear of Perez at the top of theDrivers’ Championship.

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