“It’s a lie,” Sergio Perez’s father slams allegations of Red Bull’s favoritism towards Max Verstappen
Antonio Perez sets the record straight on Red Bull's driver treatment dusts off any speculation of favouritism.
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Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and his father holding Mexican flag (Credits: Planet F1)
Sergio Perez‘s father, Antonio Perez Garibay, has come out to refute allegations of Red Bull favoring Max Verstappen over his son, stating that there is no sabotage happening in the team. Perez’s father dismissed these claims as mere speculation and stressed that Red Bull is a professional team that wants to win with both of its drivers.
Speaking to Jose Manuel Escobedo of MARCA TV, “It’s a lie, let’s be clear. Red Bull is a brand that costs many billions of dollars more than Checo and Max. It is a professional team that wants to win with its two drivers. They want lap one from practice one, and they want their two drivers to be 1 and 2. There is no favouritism for anyone, it is all speculation,” Sergio Perez’s father said.
The Mexican driver is presently in contention for the championship, trailing his partner by 15 points after the first three races of the season. However, this has fueled conjecture that the team may be prioritizing Red Bull’s golden kid Max Verstappen in order to boost his chances of winning the championship. However, Perez’s father dismissed these comments, stating that Red Bull had the two best drivers on the same squad, and they were both competing on an equal footing. “Red Bull has the two best tigers in the same cage. If they were not at the same level, what is happening would not exist,” he added.
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Sergio Perez’s father prefers that other teams would compete with Red Bull for the championship
It’s no secret that Red Bull builds cars around Max Verstappen’s driving style, but Perez’s father insists that this does not imply special treatment. Sergio Perez has previously been in contention for the title after winning the Monaco Grand Prix in 2022. However, following the Canadian GP upgrades, he was unable to match his teammate’s performance and finished third in the title behind Charles Leclerc.
Perez’s father also hoped that more teams and drivers would join the battle for the championship, rather than the fight being between just the two Red Bull drivers. “Hopefully, more teams and riders join in fighting for the championship. The fight shouldn’t just be between Checo and Max,” he said.
The feud between the two Red Bull drivers began at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix and was inflamed further by the extra point granted to Max for the fastest lap at the season opener in Bahrain. However, Perez’s father insists that this does not imply any favoritism towards Max within the team.
Given that Red Bull is now the benchmark team in the sport, it will be intriguing to see whether any other team or driver can threaten the Red Bull duo’s supremacy if the Red Bull squad would live up to Sergio Perez’s father’s words.
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Rohit Bhaskar
(727 Articles Published)