Perez advises Verstappen to be more patient

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Sergio Perez says that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen needs to learn to show some patience if he's to avoid even more costly mistakes in future.

Perez has a good idea what he's talking about. He was a major rising star after two seasons at Sauber when he was picked by McLaren to replace the departing Lewis Hamilton.

However Perez struggled at the team in 2013, and found himself dumped at the end of a single season.

"My time at McLaren hurt me," Perez told Speed Week. "I was frustrated ... I made too many mistakes because I was impatient."

And the Mexican driver sees signs of the same thing happening to Verstappen this season. The 20-year-old crashed in qualifying in Bahrain and was labelled a 'dickhead' by Lewis Hamilton after the pair collided in the race.

Verstappen made contact with Sebastian Vettel in the Chinese Grand Prix, and his Baku race ended in ignominy when he and team mate Daniel Ricciardo crashed on the main straight.

"I think Max has just been too impatient in the last races," said Perez. "I can understand that well. His car is not as good as he hoped, he pushes too hard, he lost a victory in China.

"I'm convinced that it was a big blow for Max to see Daniel win in Shanghai," he added. "But I think Verstappen is a smart guy.

Top teams overlooking Perez is 'criminal', says Force India boss

"If you have Max behind you, then you have to expect something crazy," he said, agreeing that other drivers tended to get nervous when they saw Verstappen loom up in their rear view mirrors.

"But in almost all cases, he has his car under control.

"He's had some bad races in a row, but he will put that behind him. He is a very good driver and I have no qualms about racing with him.

"He will have noticed what is happening and become an even better driver."

Perez himself was able to push though his problems after 2013. A move to Force India helped him revive his confidence and his career.

Last weekend he clinched his eighth F1 podium in Baku, making him the team - and Mexico's most successful driver in the history of the championship. So don't be surprised if Verstappen similarly learns from his own mistakes in the future.

Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley said on Sunday that it was "criminal" that the driver wasn't more in demand by the big F1 teams.

"As a racer he's amazing," said Fernley. "I think he is possibly the most underrated F1 driver out there."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.