Perez sees Verstappen suffer same thing: 'Now the issues are coming to Max'
Sergio Perez has been off the pace for a long time. Despite being in the car that sits at the top of the Constructors World Championship, the Mexican hasn't been on the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix in April. In Italy, Perez was 0.040 seconds from beating Verstappen in qualifying as he sees his issues move to the other Red Bull car.
Perez has been under a lot of pressure. There was even speculation about whether he would be replaced at Red Bull Racing, but team boss Christian Horner confirmed at the start of the summer break that the Mexican would stay in the car for the coming races. Perez was often sitting behind the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes but in Italy, the Dutchman joined him.
A pressure release for Perez?
Verstappen has been very vocal about the balance issues on the Red Bull car during the Italian Grand Prix weekend and at other races. Perez claims he sees Verstappen experiencing what he has suffered from for a long time.
"They have been with me since a long time. But like I said before, they seem to be hurting me more earlier in the year than they did to Max. But now they seem to be coming to Max," Perez told GPblog and others in the paddock at Monza.
"I think it's something that we don't have a quick fix for now, but hopefully in a short time, we are able to dial in some connection to the car and then the pace will be a lot better," Perez reported.
Perez will start the Italian Grand Prix in 8th place, one grid slot behind his teammate Verstappen. The lights will go out at 15:00 local time.
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