Four-time F1 world champion Alain Prost says Sergio Perez needs to tone down his comments about his desire to beat Max Verstappen, while the Mexican driver's entourage also isn't helping his cause.
Perez and Verstappen traded wins in the first four races of 2023, but gradually the Dutchman has broken loose from his Red Bull teammate in the championship thanks to consecutive victories in Miami, Monaco and Barcelona.
Verstappen's strong run of form was compounded by Perez's pointless race in Monte-Carlo and relative underperformance in Spain, a shortfall that has left the Mexican 53 points adrift in the Drivers' standings and his title hopes in tatters.
Prost believes Perez is wrongly approaching his rivalry with Verstappen.
"A driver’s game is always to try and tip the balance in his favour, whether it’s the set-up of the car or the contribution of the team. And that’s where Perez is wrong," the four-time World Champion told France's L’Equipe.
"He needs to make Max Verstappen doubt him and change Red Bull’s mind about him.
"As we know, Perez is tackling an almost impossible mission. And in order to achieve it, he must above all not shout so loudly about his desire to beat Max."
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Last month, Sergio Perez's father likened his son's intra-team battle with Verstappen to Prost's rivalry with Ayrton Senna at McLaren in the late 1980s.
"You have to remember when McLaren had Senna and Prost," Antonio Perez told Mexican outlet Esto. "This is the same thing. Today we are living it again.
"They are two tigers in the same cage. They both think the same, have the same breakfast, eat the same.
"You see they both try to take fastest lap from one another. In qualifying they want the pole; they want to be fastest in practice."
But Prost laughed off the bold comparison, and suggested that Perez Sr was doing his son no favours by making such comments.
"His entourage isn’t helping him either," Prost said.
"When I read a month ago that his father told journalists that his fight with Max was similar to the one I had with Ayrton, it’s pointless and counterproductive."
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