Ever since joining the Red Bull, Sergio Perez has been under tight scrutiny for not being able to perform at the level of reigning champion Max Verstappen. This debate reached a new level at the Chinese GP when the Mexican was unable to snatch P2 off from Lando Norris. Now, F1 pundit Ted Kravitz has defended Perez’s by claiming the RB20 is designed to favor Verstappen’s driving style.

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At the Chinese GP, Red Bull secured a front-row lockout and expected to claim another 1-2 finish. However, to the team’s dismay, Sergio Perez was unable to breeze past Lando Norris, who was on a one-stopper and fended the Mexican off for the runners-up spot. This performance gap between Max Verstappen and his teammate led to experts claiming the 34-year-old should be sacked from the team.

However, Ted Kravitz sided with the 34-year-old and reasoned why his performance looked underwhelming when compared to his world-champion teammate.

There is also no doubt that the RB20 is built around [Max]Verstappen. That we know. It's better for Perez this year than it has been previously, but the way this car is designed to be on the nose and the slightest steering wheel input and it starts moving at the front. It's so grippy at the front in a way Verstappen loves. A driver with a more standard driving style, things what is happening here.

Ted Kravitz said in his Ted’s Notebook programme on Sky Sports.

The 50-year-old claimed the RB20 to have been designed to maximize Verstappen’s comfortability in the car. Moreover, it is widespread in the paddock that the Dutchman likes an oversteery car while the Mexican is his polar opposite and likes a car that understeers.

This generates a dilemma for the designers to create a car that would suit both drivers. However, according to Kravitz, the reigning champion’s influence weighs a lot in the Milton Keynes-based team and the designers focus on preparing a car that would suit the 26-year-old.

Sergio Perez reveals why he finished behind Lando Norris

The Mexican driver was lapping about six-tenths of a second slower than his teammate in China. This raised concerns regarding his race which later turned into reality as he lost second place to McLaren star, Norris. However, Perez seemed unaffected by this as he claimed the safety car to have ruined his race in China. The 34-year-old was caught out with the unusual timing of the safety car.

Unfortunately [with the] Safety Car we lost two places. We did most of the race on the hard [tyre], once you’re fighting like that in the early laps then the life of the tyres just goes off dramatically. At least we managed to get onto the podium, but it would have been good [to be] one and two. We changed a lot from yesterday to today, so I think we didn’t read the conditions as perfectly as we could, but overall I think it was a strong weekend and we understand the reasons why today the race pace was a little bit down.

Sergio Perez said.

Perez stated that when the safety car was called out, he was caught off-guard as he had just completed his pitstop. This subsequently made him lose two positions to his rivals. Then he had to get the hard tires in the working window, which he was unable to do, causing him to lose grip and the runners-up spot in the long run.

Despite the setback in China, the Red Bull driver is adamant that Miami would be a better weekend for him. Moreover, his team principal, Christian Horner also has faith in him so, the Mexican would get a huge confidence boost and aim to conquer his weaknesses at Miami next month.