Ex-Formula 1 driver:

Red Bull? “Was a disadvantage for the development”

Mika Häkkinen (left) and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner(Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Mark Thompson)

"That was a real disadvantage for the development of the team," says ex-Formula 1 driver Mika Häkkinen about the current problems at Red Bull. What exactly does he mean? The performance gap between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez ...

Perez is one of the main reasons why Red Bull is no longer the undisputed number one team. "Formula 1 is a brutal sport," said the two-time F1 world champion in a YouTube video from Unibet, in which he analyzes the first half of the season. "The gap between Max and Sergio has widened all the time and that means you don't get the data. You don't get the information from both cars to develop the car as quickly as you need to. And that's been a real disadvantage for the team's development."

As is well known, Perez cannot keep up with his teammate's times. The Mexican has been driving in Verstappen's shadow for some time, which is why calls for him to leave have been growing louder and louder, but Red Bull decided to extend Perez's contract.

"One car alone does not move the team forward"
"I try to avoid criticism," emphasized Häkkinen. "I just want to say that you need two absolute top drivers so that the team can compare the data and the different adjustments they make to the aerodynamics of the car or the mechanics. You have to constantly compare and on a race weekend the time is very short, so one car alone cannot move the team forward."

Sergio Perez(Bild: AFP/APA/SIMON WOHLFAHRT)

In concrete terms, this means that Red Bull relies solely on Verstappen's data because Perez's is not meaningful enough.

Häkkinen continues about Perez: "It's not his first year or second year. He's been around for a long time. He's had the chance to study himself, to understand himself. What does he need to be number one? And he hasn't done that."

Here is the drivers' championship standings:

Red Bull are still in the dark as to what specifically led to the drop in performance. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku is scheduled for September 15. Will the Austrian racing team get a better grip on its problems there? ...