Marko’s simple explanation for Perez's struggles against Verstappen

Sergio Perez endured another difficult weekend as he finished sixth at the Canadian Grand Prix, while teammate Verstappen led every lap on his way to scoring his fourth win in a row. 

The Mexican appeared to be mounting a genuine title challenge to Verstappen after winning two of the opening four rounds of the 2023 season, but a string of poor weekends since has seen him slip 69 points adrift.

Marko offered a simple explanation for Perez’s performance deficit to Verstappen. 

When asked why Perez looks to be much slower than Verstappen in the same RB19 car, the Austrian told OE24: ”Because Max is Max.

"He's in the best car, but even in that car only [Fernando] Alonso and [Lewis] Hamilton could keep up. 

"Those three are simply the strongest, and Max stands out among them.”

Perez’s recent struggles has led to talk over his F1 future, but Red Bull team principal Christian Horner insists the Milton Keynes squad will continue to support him. 

"I think he just needs a good weekend to just lift his confidence,” Horner said in Montreal. 

"I think he's had three difficult weekends, three difficult Saturdays, that then puts you on the backfoot on a Sunday. And we've seen what Checo is capable of, only a month or two ago.

"And I think he just needs to have a strong weekend to find that confidence. And then I've got no doubt he'll be back.

"He is second in the world championship at the moment. He's the only other driver to have won two races other than Max this year.

"So yeah, we need to support him through this period. And I'm sure he'll find his form again soon."