red bull rider Max Verstappen has denounced the RB20’s performance problems, blaming his teammate for the problems Sergio PerezThe drop in performance that has continued since the Chinese Grand Prix. The Dutchman believes that Perez will improve naturally if Red Bull gives him a better car.

The Mexican driver has been going through a challenging year as mid-season balance issues with the RB20 first affected his car, leading to criticism over his form. However, it was only after similar problems arose in Verstappen’s car that it became clear that the poor performance was due to the car’s set-up, not the driver. Perez currently sits in eighth place in the drivers’ standings with 150 points, 212 points behind leading driver Verstappen’s 362 points.

However, persistent car issues have allowed McLaren and Ferrari to leapfrog Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, highlighting the impact of Red Bull’s unresolved technical challenges. Last weekend in Mexico, Verstappen received a 20-second penalty for pushing Lando Norris off the track in two separate incidents. However, the three-time world champion admitted after the race that he was more worried about the car’s pace than anything else. he told the media:

“At the end of the day, whether you agree or not, it doesn’t matter because the sanctions are put in place.

“Honestly, that wasn’t my biggest problem of the race either, my biggest problem was that we just didn’t have the rhythm. I just suffered a lot with the tyres, I couldn’t really attack and I couldn’t follow Ferrari and McLaren.”

He added:

“I mean, I knew it was going to be difficult. I never felt very good, so yeah, I knew it was going to be very difficult to keep them behind.”

Perez endured a disappointing race at home, finishing seventeenth after a collision with VCARB’s Liam Lawson, having qualified in eighteenth place. The 34-year-old reported braking problems on his RB20 throughout the weekend, but the poor race result made him the subject of speculation over his possible expulsion from Red Bull. However, Verstappen believes his form will improve if Red Bull improves the car. When asked about the challenge his team-mate was facing, he told Sky Sports F1, as reported Racingnews365.com:

“I mean, at the moment, this is not our biggest problem.

“We need to improve our car, because if the car is better, naturally Checo will improve.

“But I’m not thinking about these types of scenarios, I’m just thinking about how I can be faster with the car.”

“Austin was promising, but (in Mexico) we were really bad, and I just hope that in Brazil we can be more competitive again.”