Sky F1 pundit claims Red Bull have ‘broken’ Sergio Perez

Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok has said Sergio Perez has appeared to have been “broken” by Red Bull in some ways, after a convincing defeat by his team-mate at Spa.

The Mexican pulled off a brave move on Charles Leclerc into the Les Combes chicane on the first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix, but Max Verstappen, who started sixth after a grid penalty, was able to reel Perez in and overtake him on lap 17.

But not only did Verstappen go on to cruise to victory, he did so by beating Perez by 22 seconds, pulling that gap to his team-mate in only 27 laps around Spa-Francorchamps.

Sergio Perez ‘broken’ by Max Verstappen dominance

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Chandhok and fellow panellist, Sky F1 commentator David Croft, were discussing Red Bull’s form and the unfortunate coincidence of the team accidentally breaking a winner’s trophy for the second time in as many races.

Following on from that point, the former Hispania and Lotus driver looked back at the sheer dominance Verstappen has put in against his team-mate, and the rest of the field in Formula 1, and how that could end up being the “only cause of concern” at Red Bull as it stands.

“I will say that the only other thing they appear to have broken is their second driver in some ways,” Chandhok said.

“You know, at the start of the year, I go back to the drive he put in in Jeddah. But more importantly, in Baku, Crofty and I were in the commentary box there saying, let alone the strategy, but he would have overtaken Max on track and won that race.

“And it was a proper convincing performance, admittedly, at one of his strongest circuits on the calendar, but ever since he got overtaken on, whatever it was, lap 41 in Miami, it’s just gone away from him.

PlanetF1.com recommends

Explained: The 2026 engine regulations set to seriously shake up Formula 1

The F1 records held by Max Verstappen…and the ones he could still break in 2023

“I look at what happened even on the weekend at Spa, Max got ahead of him, and he put 22 seconds on him in 27 laps,

“You know, that’s a big chunk of performance to put around a track where they’re spending a lot of time at full throttle driving in a straight line, essentially.

“And to me, that is the cause of concern – the only cause of concern – at the moment in the Red Bull camp is, you know, Max, is this the fourth teammate that he’s potentially broken?

“I mean, who can they have alongside him? Or do they just say, ‘You know what? We don’t really need anyone to be challenging him, we’re happy for somebody to be half a second off the pace because our car is good enough for Max to be able to deliver at that level.’”

Read next: David Croft makes huge Lance Stroll exit prediction with ‘mojo lost’