Lewis Hamilton tears into Red Bull staff over Sergio Perez treatment.
Lewis Hamilton has jumped to the defense of Red Bull driver Sergio Perez ahead of Sunday’s home race in Mexico City.
Lewis Hamilton spoke about Red Bull, specifically advisor Helmut Marko, and what the team thinks of driver Sergio Perez.
The Mexican has often been criticized in his own camp as he has struggled to match Max Verstappen’s performance levels this season.
The 33-year-old is 226 points behind his team-mate with 15 wins in the last four rounds of the season, with Cecco taking two.
The difference in results between the two was so great that Marco quickly challenged the second placed Red Bull driver.
On Sunday, the Austrian adviser, who has always criticized his performance and struggled in qualifying, went too far in the wake of the Italian Grand Prix, citing Perez’s Mexican heritage as the reason he could never challenge Verstappen for the Championships World.
Commenting on the challenges facing Ceco this season, Hamilton said: “I’ve never been in a position like Ceco. But as a driver, I understand that the psychological and mental pressure takes a toll on you.
It is hard to explain and hard to put into words.
“I feel like I get a lot of support from the people around me and I think I’m holding up well.
I don’t think his team supported him very much. I won’t say “team” because there are many people in the team.
However, one particular speaker (Marco) was unable to help psychologically.
“It would have been very difficult to hear Toto say anything negative about me at the weekend.
So it was a difficult environment for him, but I think he handled it as well as he could.
At the beginning of the year I was really excited about him because he rode really well.
“At one point it looked like he was leading the championship and I thought, ‘Oh, we have the best of the Czech Republic.’ But this is a very long year, a very long season.
It’s the toughest sport and what I like about Checo is that he gets up and tries.
“One thing is for sure: Mexico will be on top of it this weekend.
Hopefully they’ll give me more lap times when we get to Silverstone.
So there’s no doubt he’s going to have a great weekend.
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