When Sergio Pérez signed with Red Bull last December to join the Austrian team in Formula 1, he knew he had a big challenge ahead of him, as he faced the team's top talent, Max Verstappen, every weekend.
So far in the championship, the Mexican has only managed to beat the Dutchman once in the classification (when he reached second place at Imola) and in the race he was always behind him when the two crossed the finish line.
Pérez, however, had warned before the start of the year that he would need a period of five GPs to adapt to the RB16B and in the sixth stage, at the Azerbaijan GP, it was the first time that he overcame Verstappen, triumphing after a tire failure on his car.
In any case, for Eddie Irvine, who knows what it's like to share a garage with a very fast driver, having been Michael Schumacher's teammate at Ferrari for four seasons, doesn't believe Pérez can beat Verstappen on a regular basis.
"His job is to do the best, that's all," he said in an interview about the Mexican and Valtteri Bottas.
“Bottas has beaten Hamilton before more often than lately. Pérez is new against Verstappen, but Max showed that the game is over. Both are indeed No. 2, but against guys like Hamilton and Verstappen that's not a bad thing,” commented the Irishman.
Irvine went even further and stated that there is no driver on the current grid who can handle Verstappen and Hamilton.
“I don't think anyone in Formula 1 can face these two and beat them regularly. I think Hamilton is getting older now and his pace is not as good as it used to be, but he is still an accomplished pro. I think people know that anyone who takes on Verstappen will be defeated by his speed," he said.
Furthermore, the former Ferrari and Jaguar driver finds in Verstappen something similar to Michael Schumacher in terms of the Dutchman's ability to beat his teammates, as the German did.
"Verstappen has always been very fast, and you can see that he is by far the most dominant first rider on the grid. He has had many second riders on the team and none have come close. So he is a bit like Michael Schumacher."
"I have to say that Verstappen is probably the main talent, although Lewis is, as I said, an established pro and has few weaknesses."
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