‘We couldn’t have asked for better’ – Sergio Perez praised by Red Bull ahead of Azerbaijani Grand Prix

Sergio Perez is an excellent team-mate, who is doing “extremely well” at Red Bull, that is according to chief engineer, Paul Monaghan.

Perez heads to Baku for the Azerbaijani Grand Prix having won a fortnight ago in Monaco to collect a second Grand Prix win as a Red Bull driver after success in Azerbaijan in 2021.

“Checo is driving extremely well this year, and he does find the car is not always to his liking but it’s one that he can drive,” Monaghan said.

“I think last year’s car, don’t forget that we were coming to the end of a set of regulations which had evolved, and we’d evolved with Max. And then Checo got in and, as a team-mate to Max, we couldn’t have asked for better, could we?”

Verstappen has suffered with technical issues recently – most notably in Barcelona where a DRS problem left him unable to pass the Mercedes of George Russell – but Monaghan says those issues have now been solved.

“Our DRS problem was self-inflicted, I think if we are honest, so now we’ve learned our rather painful lessons,” he said.

“There is a sigh of relief after the work that some very clever people did, the research and the checks. They did a phenomenal job in a very short period of time.

“Will he [Verstappen] complain after the race win or lose or whatever? Complain is the wrong word, will he have his usual constructive criticism? Yes, of course he will. I think we should expect that from both of them.”

Perez sits third in the championship, 15 points behind leader Verstappen, who is on 125 points, nine clear of second-placed Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. With Verstappen’s technical problems solved and Perez continuing to show good pace, Baku represents an opportunity for both drivers to lay down a championship marker.

Monaghan says there is not much between either driver but added that Verstappen is driving as well as he ever has.

“I don’t know if one is more comfortable than the other. I think Max is driving as well as I’ve ever seen him drive. We’ll see what happens towards the end of the year,” he added.