Marko: Bottas a loser when it comes to overtaking

Red Bull have struggled to find a driver able to keep up with their recently crowned Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen, with Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon being the most recent casualties of the ruthless Red Bull junior driver program, managed by none other than Dr. Helmut Marko.

Gasly and Albon struggled alongside Verstappen, and could not get close enough to him in qualifying to support him later on in races, and with the energy drinks outfit driver program lacking a proper substitute, the team turned to Sergio Perez ahead of the 2021 season, the Mexican out of a drive after being replaced by Sebastian Vettel at the team that was Racing Point in 2020 and morphed into Aston Martin the year after.

When asked about Perez, and how he preformed on his debut season with Red Bull, Marko seemed satisfied while realistic about the Mexican's performance compared to Verstappen.

"It's clear to us that there is currently no driver who can stand up to Verstappen in qualifying," he told AutoRevue of Perez.

"But then you need someone who won't break – that has happened with Perez," the Austrian admitted.

But Marko still sees qualifying as a weakness in Perez, especially that as some points in 2021, he qualified too low down the grid, to be able to recover during the races.

"If you start ninth or 11th, all the qualities he undoubtedly has in the race won't help you," Marko lamented.

"He's driven at the same level as Verstappen in x number of races, [but] it just fizzles out by the time you're through [the field]."

Comparing Perez with the best wingman in the sport - Bottas when he was at Mercedes - Marko didn't mince his words: "That's the big difference between him and Bottas, who is a loser when it comes to overtaking.

"He's super fast, but he can't overtake in traffic," the 78-year-old concluded on Bottas.

Sergio Perez had a decent first season with Red Bull, his performance convincing the team to extend his contract for 2022.

The highlight of the Mexican's season was undoubtedly his win in Baku, his first as a Red Bull driver, in addition to some impressive defensive driving in Turkey holding up Lewis Hamilton to the benefit of his teammate, and repeating the feat at Abu Dhabi's season finale, with the Dutchman saying at the time: "Checo is such a legend."

Perez will start his second season with Red Bull in less than fifty days, the Mexican claiming that he fully believes he can become an F1 World Champion with Red Bull.