Red Bull’s Sergio Perez plans on challenging teammate Max Verstappen by starting the season at a “very high level”

Sergio Perez feels that his challenge against Max Verstappen will depend on how comfortable he is with the car at the start of the season. In an interview with F1's official website, Sergio Perez looked back at the 2022 season, one that was statistically his best in the sport.

The season saw him secure pole position in the second race of the season in Jeddah and win in Monaco. However, his challenge did fade after that as Max Verstappen came into his own and started dominating.

When questioned on what he feels would be the best way to beat his teammate Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez felt that it had to do with him starting the season in the best possible manner. He said:

"I'm constantly working on it. I think it really depends on how comfortable I am at the start of the season with the car, as I was in the beginning of the season, then it slipped away. I think as Formula 1 drivers, we are constantly working for new challenges all the time. But I do feel, at this time, I’m pretty much at my best. I really want to carry it on and start next year on a very high [level].”

Sergio Perez felt that in 2022, it was his losing out in a few races in the middle of the season that dropped him out of title contention. He said:

“Certainly, [2022] started really well. [We had] some reliability issues in the beginning, but things were looking on track. We were in the mix for the championship early on. I had a couple of bad races that really put me [out of] contention for the championship, so there is some work to do in that regard, together with the team."

He added:

“[We need to] make sure that we can keep that consistency throughout and that we can come back next year and fight for the title, if we were to have a similar level of car for next year.”

Can Sergio Perez challenge Max Verstappen for the title?

It's tough to be confident with such a claim because, in the last two years, it has become clear that Sergio Perez has found it hard to keep up with Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver tends to operate at a level that is comparatively higher than the one at which Perez does, and because of this, more often than not, the gap opens up early in the season and cannot be overhauled.

The 2022 F1 season statistics show a glaring gap between the two drivers. Max Verstappen won 15 races last season while Perez could only win two. Unless there is a drastic change, it is going to continue to be one-way traffic between the two drivers.