Verstappen is a top driver, Perez won't always be so close to him'

Second driver for Red Bull

Since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo at the end of 2018, Red Bull Racing has been looking for a suitable partner for Verstappen. The Dutchman continuously manages to get his car involved in the fight at the front, but Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon were unable to do so. For 2021 Sergio Perez was brought in, and that seems to be more successful.

The Mexican said he needed five races to get used to his new team and car, and while that was a bit of a laugh in Holland, Perez is living up to his words. In race number six he takes the victory, after he was already in second place before the crash of Verstappen, before Lewis Hamilton.

Fate of Perez

According to Jolyon Palmer, it's not the case that Perez will be upfront every weekend, but the former F1 driver doesn't think that's necessary either. "Verstappen is a top driver, and I don't think Perez is going to be consistently matching him moving forward. There will, I'm sure, be weekends where he's a bit adrift again and not right up there with the lead battle. But look, Valtteri Bottas isn't up there with the lead battle either," the Briton said in the Chequered Flag Podcast.

''When you're driving against such a top driver, you're not going to be matching them the whole time, because otherwise, you're going to be a multiple-time champion yourself. What Perez did now is exactly what a top team would want from a second driver. To be taking points away from Hamilton, to be not beating Verstappen, which he was not doing as well," concludes the former Renault Formula 1 driver.