Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan has defended Sergio Perez, who is in danger of losing his F1 seat this summer. Perez has been under significant pressure recently after scoring just 15 points in the last six races, sparking speculation he could be dropped from the team by Red Bull during the upcoming summer break.
The Mexican driver was always slower than Verstappen, something Monaghan realized.
However, in defense of the 34-year-old driver, Monaghan emphasized that Verstappen only made a small difference over the course of one lap, but that it made a significant difference overall. “I don’t want to be rude to Checo and he might bite my head off if he sat here,” Monaghan told the Beyond the Grid podcast. “I think overall, Max is a little faster than Checo. To me, that’s not a controversial statement. Checo would probably be the most angry with me.”
Monaghan added: “The average is half a second. Okay, let’s say most circuits have 20 angles because this makes it easy to calculate, think of it as a gain for each angle. “The difference, every corner, [Max] can pull half a tenth in a corner. It’s almost a small thing, isn’t it? But it adds up over a lap.”
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Working alongside a driver of Verstappen’s caliber is not easy, as proven not only by Perez but also by every other driver who has worked with the three-time F1 champion. It takes a certain level of mental resilience to overtake Verstappen and dominate almost every racing session, and Monaghan believes the same is the case for two-time champion Fernando Alonso. The fact that Perez was easily defeated by Verstappen makes people question whether he should compare himself to his teammate.
“If it helps you reach your full potential, again I’m speaking on behalf of the drivers, then intuitively it makes sense, right?” Monaghan asked. “If they’re constantly worried about being compared to their teammates, or about what their teammates are doing, and they’re not able to get the most out of themselves and their car with the engineers, Well, yes, that’s a disadvantage.
“What you have to be prepared for is, and I think it’s true for both Max and Fernando, is the relentless pursuit of being the best they can be. And that is, every day, every session, every lap, even if you lose one session, they will come back the next session and they will make it. “You have to be prepared for it. They don’t have a bad day, they don’t have a bad session. Yes, sometimes they do but they won’t admit it! “But again, it’s a matter of his teammate’s inner strength. He has to reach his full potential and then has to endure the judgment.”
