Jos Verstappen: “Perez doesn’t get chance to win often - he sees that, too"
Perez took victory in Jeddah from pole position, holding off a spirited Verstappen who went from 15th to second after a power problem hampered his qualifying.
Jos Verstappen was not in particularly animated mood when his son’s teammate celebrated his win with Red Bull staff afterwards.
Jos has since told Formule1.nl: "Of course we all want to win. But that wasn't on the cards today. The margin was too small for that.
“[Perez] doesn't get the chance that often, I think. He sees that too and then goes for it.”
Max and Perez had an unexpected run-in at the end of 2022, despite Red Bull dominating the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, highlighting the friction between the drivers.
Max Verstappen was on course for pole position until a drive shaft issue stopped his run.
“It was now disappointing for us in qualifying,” his father reflected.
“Pure bad luck, I won't go into that. We know what it is. But otherwise, Max just drives easily to that pole position. And then the race is a bit easier.
“Because we actually predicted: it is quite difficult to come forward here. This is a circuit with long turners, it's hard to make a difference there. We need to have tougher tracks and more corners."
Red Bull won in Bahrain through Verstappen, then in Saudi Arabia via Perez. Already, their dominance looks insurmountable.
"It looks like we're going to be dominant,” Jos said. “We have a very good car.
“If you saw how easily they drove away now: a second faster. Can the rest of that be made up this year? I don't know. But it's not like we're standing still, is it? We also come with updates."
Max sits above his teammate in the F1 standings, after a win apiece, after he took the fastest lap bonus point in Jeddah.
This was another cause for concern between the Red Bull drivers - Perez implied that he wasn’t given the appropriate information to claim the bonus point himself.
"I just knew he was going to do it," Jos said about his son’s fastest lap. "Nice, isn't it? At least that way he remains the leader in the championship."
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
