Sergio Perez feels there is not "any reason" why McLaren will not pose a threat to Red Bull in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, despite fresh Red Bull upgrades.
Last time out in Miami, Lando Norris defeated Max Verstappen for the race win after a safety car as McLaren unveiled a sizeable upgrade package to its MCL38, with Imola expected to be a track that suits the machine better than Miami.
Red Bull's RB20 is also set to feature an upgrade package for this weekend's race, but in playing down the potential impact of the new parts, Perez felt McLaren would be a close challenger.
"We are going to have the same upgrades [on both cars]," Perez confirmed to media including RacingNews365.
"We don't expect a huge upgrade from our side, so what is more important is to maximise the balance of the car for low-fuel and high-fuel but I think the upgrades we have are less significant here.
"I don't see any reason why [McLaren] can't [challenge].
"I believe that they will be very strong, Ferrari will be very strong and the pressure is on for all those teams to deliver weekend after weekend.
"If you are able to deliver on a weekend another team doesn't, then the swing around will be huge."
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Struggles in Miami
In Miami, Red Bull struggled on race day compared to the low-fuel conditions of qualifying and the sprint race, as the Mexican described how the team did not have the "full picture" heading into the grand prix.
"McLaren was the fastest team in Miami, and Ferrari was very strong as well, but I think we didn't maximise our package as well - we could have been stronger," he said.
"I believe that was the same for everyone, but we came away with the most points from the weekend, but we expect the pack to be closer so it is great for the sport and to have all the teams fighting at the front.
"The sprint doesn't give you a full picture, it is very different to do the race with 30 kilos of fuel than to do it with more than 100kg.
"We went into the race and were sliding quite a lot more than we wanted to and we know what we lacked.
"I've been on the simulator already, and there will be big improvements."
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