Max Verstappen humble in defeat to Sergio Perez: “Appreciate when somebody has done a great job”

Max Verstappen has praised Red Bull F1 teammate Sergio Perez for being “on it” following his second victory of 2023 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Perez beat Verstappen to the win in Baku after taking the lead through the Safety Car phase.

The Mexican had shown better pace before the Safety Car was deployed, moving to within one-second of Verstappen.

Perez managed to control the race from the front, extending the gap over Verstappen to over four seconds, before it was reduced to 2.1s at the chequered flag.

Even though Verstappen lost the win through unfortunate circumstances, he was humble in defeat, giving due credit to his Red Bull counterpart. 

“But clearly, you know, Checo this year has really been on it, he’s been really performing well and that’s great to see,” Verstappen said. “He’s feeling more and more confident in the car and for the team as well, we are really enjoying it.

“And I think Checo and I, we’re having a good time, and we jumped out of the car… And that’s also what is very important: you need to acknowledge and also appreciate when somebody has done a great job.

“And that’s exactly what happened today. And we will continue fighting for the rest of the season but that’s normal, we have done that our whole life.”

Perez chipped in with a response, stating that there’s a “very high level of respect” between the pair, insisting that relations won’t deteriorate if things get heated in the battle for the F1 2023 world championship.

“I think there is a very high level of respect between Max and myself, and the whole team,” Perez added. “The level we are operating at, we’re pushing each other really hard, we obviously want to beat each other, I want to win the championship as much as Max wants but there is a lot of respect between us.

“And I feel in a way, we’re very similar in the way we approach or think about the sport so I do not believe he will change.

“We will be fighting each other like we did today, as much and as hard as we possibly can. But I think with a very high level of respect to us and to our team.”