Verstappen vs Perez | F1 Driving Style Rivalry

The rivalry between Perez and Verstappen has been a hot topic, making F1 headlines since 2021. With Verstappen being the faster driver in 2024, it seems like Perez’s driving style doesn’t suit the Red Bull. However, Perez thrived in other cars like the Force India and Racing Point. Despite this, telemetry data emphasises the stark contrast between their driving styles. So is it the Red Bull that doesn’t match Perez’s setup preference? Or do their contrasting driving styles tell us why Verstappen is faster?

In terms of car setup, the pair prefer the opposite, with Perez liking a stronger rear, and Verstappen a stronger front. Perez said in an interview that the RB19 “didn’t really suit me", which left him to “work harder” to keep up with Verstappen. Whereas Verstappen was known to like a softer front end (meaning more mid-corner oversteer) as his father revealed in an interview. This means that the Red Bull suits Verstappen’s car setup preference more, having more front end grip. While the strong front end helps with rotation, it tends to be too sharp and sensitive, making the car trickier to drive. Verstappen thrives with this oversteer, where Perez is more nervous. However, Perez had some promising performances earlier in 2024 lapping almost as fast as Verstappen. Since then, his pace has been noticeably slower as he lost the confidence to push the car. 

This is all down to driving style differences. 

Verstappen used to be a more aggressive driver in his early karting and Formula 3 days. He preferred an oversteery setup, similar to his preference today. Verstappen danced the car around corners, always trying to stay on the limit of grip. However, like all other drivers he adapted his style to be smoother for the heavier F1 cars. His style is classified as “Smooth Oversteer”, after refining his aggression into confident and smooth inputs. Despite this, he still prefers a strong front end and benefits from the Red Bull’s natural oversteer. Verstappen is also confident with the Red Bull, allowing him to have smoother steering inputs. He barely makes corrections during a fast lap, signalling his confidence with the oversteer. This is why Verstappen’s style is smooth even though he prefers oversteer.

Perez also used to be a more aggressive driver during his time in F3. When he moved on to F1, he thrived in front-limited cars like the Force India and Racing Point. Having a weaker front was fine, as long as he had the right amount of rear end grip. Perez thrived with understeer, and adapted his style to be smooth. This was due to understeery setups requiring the drivers to work the front tyres more. Working the fronts required a bit of Alonso-like aggression but wore out the tyres faster. This was why Perez crafted his driving into a “Smooth Understeer” style, to make the tyres last longer. Perez is known for his ability to make tyres last longer than others with the right car setup. The rear tyres in an understeery car setup are planted and slide less, which is ultimately good for rear tyre degradation. With a smooth steering input, the fronts are looked after as well. Hence why Perez is proficient with managing his tyres to last longer, giving him a more consistent race pace as well.

To really see the differences in driving style today, we have to analyse the telemetry data.

On entry, the braking graphs from Suzuka show that Perez braked later than Verstappen and trailbraked less. In the Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying, the pair were only a tenth of a second apart. However, in the Belgium Grand Prix, where Perez was half a second slower, he was braking earlier. Further, he was trailbraking more into the corner. So whenever Perez is faster, he is braking harder but trailbraking less. This indicates that when Perez is closer to the grip limit, he induces understeer into the corner, countering the oversteer. He induces understeer to stabilise the car more, but ends up overslowing mid-corner.

Verstappen on the other hand, is more comfortable with the oversteer seen by his earlier and softer initial braking. This allows him to carry more speed into the corner. Further, he trails the brakes into the corner, inducing oversteer, allowing him to rotate the car earlier, setting up the car for a better exit.

Mid-corner, as a result of braking deeper into the corner, Perez often overslows in an attempt to stabilise the Red Bull. Evidently, the speed graphs show that Verstapppen consistently carries a higher minimum speed in the Suzuka Esses.  Although Perez carries less mid-corner speed, he makes up for it on the straight, after setting up his exit line. Verstappen carries more mid-corner speed and can still rotate the car well with the natural oversteer in his car setup. This natural rotation helps Verstappen set the car up for a straighter and faster exit, while carrying a high mid-corner speed. Basically, Perez has a lower mid-corner speed in order to stabilise the oversteery car balance for a good exit.

On exit, Perez seems to balance the car with the throttle. By getting on the throttle early, he induces understeer, countering the oversteer. This is due to weight being transferred to the rear tyres from acceleration. Verstappen however, is more confident with getting on the throttle. The throttle graphs show that he gets to 100% throttle faster than Perez, who is more hesitant to get to full throttle despite his stable mid-corner. Ultimately, this is down to the confidence that each driver has in the amount of traction the car has on exit.

All in all, Verstappen’s confidence with the car setup allows him to push harder than Perez. Whenever Perez is closer to his teammate’s laptime, he is smoother and more comfortable with inducing rotation. On the other hand, he likes to induce understeer to stabilise the oversteer when he isn’t confident enough. Verstappen is the polar opposite; instead of fighting oversteer, he uses it to go faster.

With Perez liking understeer and Verstappen liking oversteer, it is hard for Red Bull to have a direction to focus their development on. With completely different driving styles, the Red Bull teammates seldom have combined success as a team. But when the conditions are right, they are both fast drivers with a confident feel for the grip limit. That said, it is not the car setup preferences that make one faster than the other, rather it is who can adapt to the car the best.