Perez opens up on pain of 'extreme' Verstappen dominance

Red Bull's Sergio Perez has spoken of how difficult it is for him to witness the dominance of teammate Max Verstappen.

Red Bull has proved to be the class of the F1 field in 2023, and Perez and Verstappen have won all 14 Grands Prix so far this year.

Perez won two of the year's first four races, prompting some to suggest that the Mexican may challenge two-time World Champion Verstappen for this season's Drivers' title.

However, since then, Verstappen has swept every available win with consummate ease, notably taking a record tenth consecutive Grand Prix victory at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

By contrast, Perez endured a rotten run of mid-season form that saw him take only a solitary podium finish in five Grands Prix, and the Mexican admitted it was somewhat galling to see Verstappen sweep all before him in identical machinery.

Perez hails 'extreme' Verstappen

"I think we have to appreciate what Max is doing," Perez told media, including RacingNews365.

"At the level that he is driving at the moment, it's extreme.

"I think the ability he has to perform at his 100 per cent every single weekend, no matter which conditions he's driving [in].

"It's something that's quite hard to see, as his teammate.

"It doesn’t really matter what's happened, whether we have a good margin or bad margins or the car is becoming difficult.

"He's been able to extract 100 per cent out of himself and the car pretty much every weekend."