Charles Leclerc has expressed his astonishment at the substantial performance gap between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez within the Red Bull Racing team during the current Formula 1 season.
At the beginning of the season, Verstappen and Perez evenly split victories in the first four races. However, Verstappen has since established a firm grip on the Drivers’ Championship, securing eight consecutive wins before the summer break. In contrast, Perez has faced challenges in qualifying, resulting in a substantial 125-point deficit to his teammate in the standings, making a title comeback a daunting task.
Reflecting on the situation, Ferrari driver Leclerc, who finished third behind the dominant Red Bull pair at Spa-Francorchamps in the most recent race, admitted his astonishment at Verstappen’s exceptional dominance, particularly within the Red Bull team.
Verstappen’s remarkable performance was exemplified when he secured pole position at Spa on a drying track, outpacing the rest of the field by eight tenths of a second. Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko even suggested that Verstappen could put a Haas or AlphaTauri car on pole position in mixed conditions.
Leclerc acknowledged Verstappen’s exceptional driving skills but found the performance gap between him and Perez surprising, even without access to the detailed data from within the team.
“I think Max is a great driver, but at the same time, there are many who cannot explain such a wide margin between him and Checo,” Leclerc remarked in an interview with the Italian edition of Motorsport.com. “Personally, I think it is impossible to read the situation well from the outside; only inside the team do they know everything precisely.”
Leclerc went on to note that, on occasion, the performance gap between Verstappen and Perez exceeded his expectations. However, he recognized the formidable challenge of competing alongside Verstappen, emphasizing that he does not possess a comprehensive view of the team’s internal dynamics.
