Max Verstappen has given his backing to teammate Sergio Perez, who is in the process of negotiating an extension to his Red Bull contract. After the Miami Grand Prix, Perez revealed that he and Red Bull have commenced talks over a new contract for the 2023 season. Since joining the team for 2021, the Mexican has been handed back-to-back one-year contracts, with his latest deal finishing at the end of the current campaign. During his time at Red Bull, his highlights have included a win at last year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, seven podiums, and his first F1 pole position at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He also gained plaudits for his hard-but-fair racing against Lewis Hamilton in the 2021 championship showdown in Abu Dhabi. When asked about Perez's performances this season, Verstappen believed Red Bull were happy with his teammate's efforts, noting that Perez appeared more comfortable in the car since the regulation changes at the start of the campaign. "It seems like he's a lot happier in the car, so that's really good for the team," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365.com . "Of course, I think it helps to have a year with the team, and I think the new rule changes also helped, because everyone had to start from zero."
Verstappen not tempted to change approach after championship success
Verstappen was then quizzed on the way he tackles a Grand Prix weekend, and whether or not his methods have changed following his championship success in 2021. He explained that he remains hungry for personal improvements, but any performance gains would be mostly unnoticed without a strong car. "I think naturally every year you want to try and be better, but you need a car for that as well. Luckily, we have a very competitive car," said Verstappen. Verstappen added that he will continue his approach of maximising the performance of the car whilst keeping the errors to a bare minimum. "From my side nothing really changes," the Dutchman added. "You try to do the same, you want to be as consistent as you can be, try not to make mistakes and eventually try to get the best result possible every single weekend. "You analyse every single race weekend and you try to be better again the weekend after but, from my side, the feeling as well is pretty similar."
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