Max Verstappen would have found it difficult to adapt to the Mercedes W12 had he come to the team in 2021, claims his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.
In the Red Bull Racing RB16B from Verstappen, he won his first driver’s world title in 2021. For Perez, however, the car turned out to be an entirely different experience.
When asked what it was like to switch to the Honda-powered Red Bull after attending Mercedes-powered Racing Point in 2020, Sergio Perez was quoted by GP fans as saying:
“Yes. Of course, as a driver, you underestimate these things until you live them. Driving a different engine is a completely different task. Driving a completely different car philosophy with higher and lower rake is a completely different task . “
Red Bull has used a high-rake system over the years with better downforce and better cornering behavior at the expense of speed on the straights. Mercedes, on the other hand, has always relied on a low-rake philosophy that places more value on power and straight-line stability.
Perez then went on to compare the learning curve if it were the other way around, i.e. a hypothetical switch where Verstappen switches from Honda to Mercedes-Power, saying:
“You just approach things very differently and you have to learn new techniques. Basically, what I did before, nothing really worked here [with Red Bull]. It would be the same, for example, if Max (Verstappen) went to Mercedes. she [the cars] are just very different. They produce very similar lap times, but the way in which they achieve the lap time is extremely different. “
Christian Horner finds it difficult to compare Max Verstappen’s championship with Sebastian Vettel’s
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has a hard time deciding between his former and current champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
Vettel won Red Bull’s first World Championship when he won the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton in P2. 11 years later, Max Verstappen crossed the finish line with Hamilton in his wake and won his first world title in what felt like a déjà vu for Red Bull fans.
When asked in an interview at the FIA Champions press conference to choose between Vettel and Verstappen successes, Horner said:
“It’s always difficult to make comparisons, but I think the first title was very special because it was against all odds. It feels just as special as that very first title. I think the intensity and competitiveness of this title were “insane.”
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As the reigning champion, Max Verstappen has decided to drive the number 1 instead of his usual number 33 on his Red Bull when the next season begins on March 18, 2022 in Bahrain.
Edited by Sandeep Banerjee
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