Perez on Verstappen: ‘We have a lot more respect than people think…'

There has been recent tension between the pair in recent months, stemming back to Perez’s shunt during Monaco qualifying.

In Brazil, it transpired that Perez had crashed deliberately - something which irked Verstappen and explained why the Dutchman didn’t assist him in his pursuit for second in the championship against Charles Leclerc.

During the second race of F1 2023, Verstappen nicked the fastest lap off Perez on the final lap in Saudi Arabia, leaving the Mexican perplexed afterwards.

Perez has now opened up on his relationship with Verstappen.

"To be honest, we have a lot more respect for each other than people might think out there," he said.

"There is a great atmosphere with the team, there is a very high level of respect between each other in the team with all the engineers from their side and my side. 

"I think we are both mature enough to know what's right and what's wrong. As long as that keeps being the case, and I don't expect anything to change.”

With Red Bull enjoying a dominant start to the year, naturally Perez is Verstappen’s main challenger for the title.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Perez conceded that Verstappen is “definitely the hardest driver to beat” in F1.

"Not only Jeddah but already in Bahrain, we were in very small margins, in qualifying and in the race."

He continued: "There is no doubt that there is no driver on such a form as there is Max, and so together with the team with the car he's definitely the hardest driver to beat," he said. 

"So it will require the maximum amount from me to bring my A game at every single weekend."