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As the 2023 F1 season progresses, the title battle between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen is brewing. The Mexican looks quite strong this year and could pose a threat to the two-time reigning world champion, who is also his teammate. However, former F1 driver Damon Hill feels that Checo could have the upper hand on Verstappen in the upcoming Monaco GP.
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Hill initially praised Max Verstappen for the way he dominated his teammate and the entire grid with his unbeatable pace in Miami. Even after starting from ninth position, the Dutchman plowed through the field and easily overtook Checo for the lead.
However, he later lauded Sergio Perez for one-upping Max Verstappen on circuits like Baku and Jeddah, which are essentially street circuits.
Damon Hill said:
“In Miami, we saw that Max is really on a different level. Not only compared to Sergio, but compared to the entire grid. At circuits like Baku and Jeddah you could see how good Sergio was. I even think he was better than Max there.”
Since the Monaco GP is a pure street circuit with some of the narrowest sections on the entire race calendar, there are higher chances that Sergio Perez could be stronger than Verstappen. Furthermore, Checo already won the race last year, even though it was somewhat tainted by his controversial crash during the qualifying session.
The reigning world champion needs to step up and dominate his teammate this weekend to keep the lead in the drivers' championship table.
F1 pundit feels Max Verstappen will keep pushing in the title battle with Sergio Perez
F1 pundit Martin Brundle feels Max Verstappen will have consistency on his side as he continues to fight against his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez for the world championship. Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Brundle explained how Verstappen will keep a consistent performance throughout the season, something that Checo lacks a bit.
He said:
"I think over a season long, I think we all know that Max will turn up all day every day. And on Saturday, he had Sergio saying, 'Look, I'm not driving well,' in his own press release.
"So, you know, I'm not getting it to get there, and it's indicative of what's going to happen if you look at the points last year because of Max's unreliability issues in the early part of the season and then where it ended up by the end of the season."
It is clear that Sergio Perez will have to drive as perfectly as possible to have a chance to beat his teammate. Furthermore, he needs to have extreme grit during wheel-to-wheel battles with Verstappen since the Dutchman is known for his harsh racing style.
