Natalie Pinkham predicts Christian Horner will have his work cut out managing Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez this F1 season

F1 pundit and presenter Natalie Pinkham recently predicted that the battle between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will heat up in the 2023 F1 season. She also stated how Christian Horner will have a lot of work to do in terms of managing both drivers and keeping them happy.

Verstappen was not too happy with finishing second, behind teammate Perez, at the Saudi Arabian GP. Though the Dutchman was happy with the team's result, it was clear that he wanted the win for himself.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Pinkham explained how Max Verstappen drove a phenomenal recovery race starting from P15 but was not satisfied with finishing second. She said:

"When you think about how impressive that recovery drive was from Max [Verstappen]. Now he said it through gritted teeth that he was delighted to have secured P2, that what he was aiming for, but the dominance with which he did that had he not been starting P15, and perhaps, slightly unnerved by those driveshaft issues, he could have won the race."

Pinkham also predicted that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner will have a massive task of managing both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez this season as both will fight for the top spot. She concluded:

"But, I just do predict, and I think we are actually agreeing with each other that, Christian [Horner] is gonna have his work cut out to manage those two this year."

It is clear that Perez is capable of holding the top spot in a race if Verstappen runs into an issue. However, it is evident that the Dutchman will do almost anything to catch up and beat his teammate. Although it will be extremely difficult for the Mexican to race his teammate head-on, Perez will undoubtedly try his best to win his first world championship.

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Max Verstappen urges Red Bull to improve reliability after driveshaft failure in 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP qualifying

Max Verstappen did not have a perfect race weekend at the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP. During the qualifying session, the Dutchman's RB19 suffered a driveshaft failure, which forced him to start from P15. Though he drove a brilliant recovery race and plowed through the field, he was only able to finish second, behind his teammate Sergio Perez.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, the two-time world champion summed up his race weekend and how Red Bull needs to focus on reliability. He said:

"I hope for a long time. But it's not only about the pace of the car: we need to make sure we are reliable without any issues. I mean, my first weekend was not very clean because of just the big balance shift from testing to the race weekend, some other things which are going on in the background. And now again, after three positive practice sessions, where then of course, I have an issue in qualifying."

Even during the race, Max Verstappen communicated his worries about the driveshaft and how the car was not perfect. Despite that, he managed to finish second and steal the fastest lap from his teammate.