Helmut Marko has paid a somewhat bizarre compliment to Red Bull star Sergio Perez, after praising him for making it into his third season with the Milton Keynes-based team.
Perez joined the Red Bull setup ahead of the 2021 season, and has remained an ever-present with the team on the grid since. Since joining the constructors' champions, the Mexican star has enjoyed plenty of success, finding his career-best form in the Red Bull car.
Despite this, Perez has still been overshadowed by his star-studded teammate Max Verstappen, who has announced himself as the best driver on the planet in recent years.
The Dutchman has won back-to-back F1 world championships in the past two years, and started this season in a similar vein, having won the campaign-opener in Bahrain last weekend. Perez was not far behind after coming in second, but once again it was Verstappen who stole the show.
Now into his third term, the Mexican is the world champion's longest serving Red Bull teammate, after Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly lasted just two years - two drivers Marko described as being broken by being left in the shadow of Verstappen. The Red Bull advisor did however praise his current driver.
Marko told German publication Sport.de : "Sergio has survived two years alongside Max without being broken like most drivers. That is a great achievement." The Austrian also refused to rule out that his team's main focus was with Verstappen, also tipping Perez for a title charge in 2023.
He added: "Overall, the goal is that we want to win first and second place in the World Championship. From our point of view, it is not predetermined that that is Max." One man who is also confident the Mexican can become world champion is Perez's father Antonio.
Tipping his son to reach the summit he told Mexican outlet Esto: " "We will have a Formula 1 champion from Mexico. He said it since he was a child - 'I will not return to Mexico until I am world champion'...
We have to erase all these years that have passed because he never had the opportunity to fight like he is going to fight now. We are going to start to see the best of Checo Perez. He still has a lot to give..."
