Wolff questions Red Bull's 'BIZARRE' Verstappen and Perez issue
Wolff questions Red Bull's 'BIZARRE' Verstappen and Perez issue
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has admitted the staggering gap in qualifying performance between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at Red Bull is 'bizarre'.
World champion Verstappen secured the victory in Zandvoort, his home territory, after pipping Fernando Alonso, while his team-mate finished fourth after a five-second penalty.
Remarkably, there was a 1.3s gap between both drivers in qualifying, perhaps piling the pressure on Perez once again as he bids to protect his seat.
Before Sunday's feature race, Wolff conceded he could not fathom how Perez could have been so far adrift when behind the wheel of the same RB19.
READ MORE: Verstappen claims THRILLING pole position at Dutch Grand Prix
Wolff: 'I cannot comprehend it'
"Odd, bizarre," Wolff told the media. "Checo's not an idiot. We have seen in all these years Checo is a grand prix winner, multiple grand prix winner, and he was at Racing Point, so I cannot comprehend [it].
"We've seen that Max has destroyed every single team-mate that was with him, whether it's his ability to create a car around himself, that is just very tricky to control but fast if you can, and that creates those gaps, the 1.3.
"But I haven't heard any obvious explanations. But yeah. Odd."
Perez had seemingly lit the fuse on a surprise title charge this year after winning two of the first four races, but has now faded into Verstappen's shadow.
In contrast, a dominant Verstappen has raced away at the top of the drivers' championship and is cruising toward a third consecutive crown.
READ MORE: 'S*** happens' - Hamilton in X-rated reaction after shock Dutch GP exit
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Nyck De Vries
- Liam Lawson
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2023
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Australia 2023
- Grand Prix of China 2023
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2023
- Miami Grand Prix 2023
- Qatar Airways Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'emilia Romagna 2023
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2023
- AWS Gran Premio de España 2023
- Grand Prix du Canada 2023
- Grand Prix of Austria 2023
- Aramco Grand Prix of Great Britain 2023
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2023
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2023
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Italy 2023
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2023
- Grand Prix of Japan 2023
- Qatar Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of the United States 2023
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2023
- Rolex Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2023
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2023
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