Red Bull star Sergio Perez has blamed teammate Max Verstappen for making him look worse than he actually is.
The Mexican is currently sitting in fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship, though he remains an almighty 86 points behind his Dutch teammate.
Perez has underwhelmed in his last three Grand Prix and questions have therefore been raised about whether he truly warranted being handed a two-year contract extension by Red Bull bosses, particularly by ex-Haas team principal Guenther Steiner.
But Perez has now hit back at his critics, hinting that he believes that he would not be so cruelly judged if he was not on a team with the world No. 1.
Asked by RACER about the noise about his performances from outside of Red Bull, he said: “A lot is said from the outside, but within the team, I have a reference, where I have the best driver on the grid next to me at the moment.
“He performs at such a high level, is one with the car… If you were to go to another team and have a different teammate, it would look very different.
“But it’s what I love, to have this challenge and to be Max’s teammate, that’s what really motivated me to keep going because it’s a huge challenge.”
Perez also believes that he has fared well given that Red Bull drivers have struggled in years gone by to keep hold of their seat due to underperforming because of the pressure that driving for such a top team possesses. He continued: “I think you’ve seen from other drivers who have been here how difficult it is. I think Red Bull is different from any other team in that respect.