Perez praises Verstappen's performance: 'I have a lot of respect for that'

Perez focuses on P2

Helmut Marko already warned about Lewis Hamilton creeping closer in the championship. The Mercedes driver, who is 33 points behind Perez, will also be eager to secure second place in the constructors' championship and thus become vice-champion behind Verstappen.

For Perez, the focus is therefore on defending his second place. "It's important because that's the best I can get now. So I think all the drivers in here want to get the best possible season. And more than that, to me, it's very important to finish the season on a high, because that only helps the start of next year. So to me, it's very important to get on top of it and make sure that we are able to deliver in the next six races."

Perez praises Verstappen's performance

For the performance of team-mate Verstappen, who was the dominant force in 2023, Perez can only have respect. "First of all, Max has done a tremendous job. I think no credit should be taken away from this season. I think he's driven on another level compared to anyone else. I think that's something that I have a lot of respect for," said the Red Bull Racing driver.

He continued: "I just think he's able to deliver weekend in, and weekend out. It doesn't matter what conditions he has. The level of confidence that he has with the car at this stage is extremely high. We see it with the results. He's just able to deliver and has been able to deliver in any condition."

He also analyses his own performance, which has been in a slump lately. "From my side, I feel like Barcelona was quite a turning point. I was always chasing the weekend more. Sometimes you have weekends where things are coming a lot more naturally and you're just two or three steps ahead. I feel like since Barcelona, I was starting to struggle and have some deficits with the car," Perez said after his earlier comments on the subject.