Lammers draws conclusions about Perez: "He has to accept he's not in the same category"

| by Jozef Baartman

Red Bull Racing had an almost perfect weekend on home turf. Max Verstappen took away the full haul, while Sergio Perez also secured a solid number of points. On Sunday, the Mexican made a remarkable comeback, joining his teammate on the podium. However, according to former F1 driver Jan Lammers, he could have gotten more out of his race.

While the entire weekend went smoothly for Verstappen, Perez had to do some catching up. After another disappointing result in qualifying, the Red Bull driver had to embark on a substantial comeback. The experienced racer quickly overtook most of the drivers but faced more difficulty with the competitors from the top teams. "I think Verstappen would have dealt with Carlos Sainz much faster. With Red Bull's huge advantage over Ferrari, an overtaking maneuver should simply succeed on the first attempt," said Lammers to Motorsport.com. After several attempts, Perez managed to pass Sainz's Ferrari, but Charles Leclerc remained well ahead of the Mexican.

Meanwhile, Verstappen was able to make a pit stop for the fastest lap thanks to his commanding lead. Lammers had to draw a painful conclusion for Perez. "He drives the same car as Verstappen, but he's simply not at that same level. Perez must accept that he is not in the same category as his teammate - he cannot avoid it." The Dutch analyst enjoyed the harmony between his compatriot and Red Bull. "The communication flows so smoothly, it's really beautiful to see."

"Verstappen put a lot of pressure on his team"

In the final laps, Red Bull was initially hesitant to bring Verstappen in for fresh rubber, but at the insistence of the Dutchman, they eventually decided to make the tire change. "By insisting on that pit stop, he does make things harder for his team. It also puts his team under considerable pressure, but it's amazing to see that these people can handle that pressure well. I think it's fantastic that you can rely on each other as a team." Thanks to the successful pit stop, Verstappen managed to comfortably set the fastest lap time and earned the maximum achievable score. "He aims for perfection, every time."

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