Perez finished the Bahrain Grand Prix 22.4 seconds behind Verstappen, his race compromised by a lowly grid position that left him trapped behind George Russell and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz early on.
But once he had made his way forward, Perez found a run of pace that suggested he is more on top of this year’s RB20 than he had been in the team’s 2023 challenger at times last year.
As the Mexican bids to impress his bosses enough to earn a race contract for the 2025 season, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has said he took heart from the fact that his driver was not “destroyed” by Verstappen.
Asked by Autosport whether Perez’s pace was what the team wanted to see, Marko said: “Yes, it was a very good race for him.
“Don’t forget that he was stuck behind the Mercedes and Ferrari cars for a while, but once he was in free air he showed competitive lap times.
“But yes, he has Max as his team-mate. So not to be destroyed by Max is already a big achievement.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also reckoned that Perez’s performance in Bahrain was exactly what the squad wanted to see from the Mexican.
Source: Autosport