16 June 2023 , 11:48
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Sergio Perez doesn't think there is any less pressure on his shoulders heading into the Canadian Grand Prix despite Red Bull chief Christian Horner claiming Max Verstappen's win in Spain may lower his expectations.
Perez suffered a major blow in his pursuit of becoming a world champion as he finished fourth at the Spanish Grand Prix, behind Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, as well as team-mate Verstappen. It moved the Dutch driver a mighty 53 points ahead at the top of the Drivers' Championships.
The Mexican driver remains second, 18 points ahead of third-place Fernando Alonso. Although there are still 14 races to go, Verstappen looks set to claim his third successive world title. Speaking ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix on Thursday, Horner believes the pressure may be off Perez.
"I think now there is that separation in the points, that may actually take the pressure off him a little and the expectation he's putting on himself," said Horner.
Perez thought about that for a moment and agreed to disagree. "I don't think so. We always have to deliver to our maximum. And we just have to make sure we deliver," he said. "We have a great car and we should be having a lot of podiums, wins and so on from now until the end of the year."
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When asked about his own season, Perez added: "Basically, I want a restart, go again. Monaco was all down to me, I had a really bad mistake, but then in Barcelona in the qualifying again it was tricky with the damp conditions and we didn't manage to have a good qualifying and then we paid the price on Sunday. I'm looking forward to get back on the form we had in the early season."
Sergio Perez is second in the Drivers' Championships (Getty Images)Verstappen was quizzed about the situation and told media, including RacingNews365.com: "I found it difficult to comment on that because I don't know what's going on in his head. But I learned from a young age that it is always better to focus on yourself and do the best you can because all the other things are out of your control anyway.
"So there is no point trying to focus on that, that is also how I approach it as well. There are always some races in a season which don't go to plan and you have a few setbacks, but it is always important to stay focused on the job and really try to work with the car and the engineers around it to get the best out of it."