Perez 'mentally broken' by Verstappen as ex-Red Bull F1 star sticks boot in

19 December 2023 , 01:00

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Sergio Perez spent a third successive season in Max Verstappen's shadow (Image: Getty Images)

Christian Klien thinks it took just five races for Max Verstappen to "mentally break" team-mate Sergio Perez this year.

The Mexican began the season strongly with two wins from the first four races. He looked to be a genuine challenger to his fellow Red Bull racer with both of them clearly in possession of much quicker cars than anyone else.

But Verstappen struck a crucial blow at the Miami Grand Prix, in early May. He qualified just ninth while Perez was on pole, but managed his tyres outstandingly to still beat his team-mate to the victory.

After that, Perez's form began to waver and any hope he had of pushing for the title faded away. By the end of the season, Verstappen had more than double the number of points his team-mate had managed.

Former Red Bull racer Klien was blown away by an "incredible" season put together by his former employer. And while he had nothing but praise for Verstappen, he pinpointed that result in Florida as the key moment in his successful title defence.

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"Max was tremendously good and consistent. But it wasn't all a piece of cake for him. Look at qualifying in Monaco, where he certainly didn't have the fastest car," the Austrian told RacingNews365.

"During the second half of the season, the other teams were closer to him, especially in qualifying. He showed every time that he was on top of it and made the difference. Red Bull built an incredible car, it was an incredible job this year. The combination was unbeatable.

"Every high level of sport is a mental game as well. I would say Max is definitely one with the car and with the team. It feels like pressure is not getting into his head at all. That was the difference to Checo [Perez] - he had a very good start to the season and maybe he had in his mind, 'Okay, maybe this year I can beat Max or at least on the same level'.

"But I think Miami was already the turning point where he realised, 'Okay, the guy on the other side of the garage is really unbeatable'. I think mentally that broke him a little bit. It took him a really, really long time, maybe until the last couple of races where he got back [on track]. He's not a bad driver and you cannot unlearn how to drive a car fast. But in the end, it's a mental game.

"I think he realised now that he's at the end of his career. He's in the best team, in the best car. He realises, 'I have a driver next to me that I probably cannot beat'. [But he can] enjoy it, go for podiums and go for race wins. I think he was already thinking this way during the last races of 2023."

Daniel Moxon