Max Verstappen goes into this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix with a six-point lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez; Team principal Christian Horner says he wants to ensure neither driver becomes paranoid; watch the Miami GP exclusively live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend
Last Updated: 05/05/23 10:19pm
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Red Bull team principal says ensuring drivers are treated equally is key.
Red Bull team principal says ensuring drivers are treated equally is key.
Red Bull chief Christian Horner says the team must “ensure that paranoia does not creep in” for drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez as they battle for the 2023 Formula 1 drivers’ title.
Verstappen, who is seeking a third successive title, leads Perez by six points going into this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, with Red Bull’s early-season domination having seen them take two victories apiece to the start the campaign.
Perez’s triumphs in both the Sprint and race last weekend in Baku closed the gap on Verstappen, and afterwards the Mexican expressed his belief that he is capable of sustaining a title challenge.
“I think that’s a luxury problem, first of all,” Horner said on Friday in Miami. “Any team principal in the pit lane would hope to have that issue.
“It’s something that we experienced before and I think the most key thing is to ensure that paranoia doesn’t creep in, that both drivers are treated equally.
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Sergio Perez says Red Bull are allowing Max Verstappen and him to fight, now that the two sit closely in the Drivers Championship.
Verstappen was hugely magnanimous after being outperformed by Perez in Baku, but relations between the pair haven’t always been so smooth, with a major fall-out occurring in Brazil last season.
Horner says the team are going to extreme measures to ensure neither driver feels slighted.
He added: “You go to pains to provide equality to the point where who drives out the garage first each weekend, it alternates, it even alternates in the debrief who talks first.
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Max Verstappen feels it’s harder to create a bigger gap to Sergio Perez, but says there is still a long season ahead of them where ‘anything to happen’.
“It’s racing, it’s Formula 1 and occasionally something will happen like a safety car, like a pit stop, you can’t control every aspect in the sport, there are still variables.
“So long as the drivers know they are both an equal, and it’s ultimately down to what they do on the circuit, that’s where you want it to play out, not through reliability, for example, to play a key role in a championship fight between two drivers within your own team.”
‘Transparency’ key – Wolff reflects on Hamilton-Rosberg battle
Horner’s comments came in the team principals’ press conference as he was sat alongside Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff, who oversaw a fiery title battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in 2016.
Wolff said there are things he “would have done differently” regarding the contest that saw Rosberg triumph over Hamilton, but accepted managing such an intra-team title battle is “not always easy”.
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton contested an intense intra-Mercedes title race in 2016
“From my past, it’s a super tricky job for Christian and the team because both drivers will always try to feel that they’re fairly equally treated, whilst at the same time trying to have an advantage,” Wolff said.
“In our team it was important to maintain a lot of transparency, clarity, discuss things before we actually go racing on the Sunday, good boundaries.
“At the end, both drivers, even with Nico and Lewis, respected the teams opinion whilst we acknowledged that they have a fight on between the two of them.
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Ant Davidson tells the Sky Sports F1 Podcast that Sergio Perez needs to stop playing ‘Mr Nice Guy’ if he’s to have a genuine chance of winning the title.
“Going back in time there are probably things I would have done differently, in 2016 particularly, but getting the balance right between accepting that these two guys are racing for a championship, and it’s within the same garage, and at the same time they are part of a larger structure – I think that’s not always easy because they are very competitive animals.”
The Formula 1 season continues with the Miami GP this weekend. Watch qualifying at 9pm on Saturday with lights out at 8.30pm on Sunday. Get Sky Sports