Sergio Perez said Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen was on "another planet" after he won the Belgium Grand Prix from 14th. Perez, who lined up second on the grid, was unable to match the speed of his teammate throughout the race and finished where he started. He cited poor degradation on the Medium tyres as the reason his pace dropped off, and why he was unable to challenge Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz early on in the race. "I really hoped for more. Today it was a good opportunity [to win], but Max was just flying; he was on another planet and was untouchable," said Perez. "The first stint was quite poor in terms of degradation, but I feel it was a very strong result for the team. "I think we managed to get a lot of points today, which is important and [I'm] looking forward [to the next race]."
Perez avoided opening lap chaos after poor start
A poor start from Perez put him down to fourth, but that was short-lived after Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso collided at Les Combes. He added: "It was a bit of chaos on Lap 1. I had a really poor start and lost a couple of positions, but I managed to get them all back into Turn 5. "[It was] a very hectic Lap 1 and a lot of contact around [me]." Perez now sits second in the Drivers' standings, 93 points down on Verstappen and five clear of Charles Leclerc. Meanwhile, Red Bull are 118 points ahead of Ferrari thanks to their 1-2 finish.
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