Sergio Perez believes he will need to beat Max Verstappen "weekend in and weekend out" if he wants to win the Formula 1 World Championship. He is just 15 points away from Verstappen in the Drivers' title race, but believes he will need to rely on more than individual one-off race performances to maintain a challenge in 2023. "It's all about season consistency. You can win 15 races, but [if] in the other races you just crash and have DNFs and so on, it's not enough," he told media, including RacingNews365.com . "So I think it's just reaching that level of consistency and taking it race by race. "Of course if I want to win the championship I have to beat Max weekend in and weekend out, and keep this level of consistency." Perez has won one race so far at Saudi Arabia, after Verstappen retired from qualifying with a driveshaft problem and started from P15. The fast-but-fragile nature of the RB19 hit Perez in Melbourne two weeks later, when a problem caused him to start from the back after crashing out in qualifying. Team boss Christian Horner described as a "horrible day" for the Mexican .
Perez has confidence in car
Despite the reliability concerns for Red Bull, Perez still has a lot of confidence in the car compared to previous years. He believes this will be a key factor that will enable him to maintain this consistency to challenge Verstappen throughout the season. "We've got a very strong car and package, a car that I feel comfortable and I'm working well with," he explained. "It's a car that I also believe I can get the most out of with the development direction we are taking. "I think that's important to be able to stay in the fight throughout the season"
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