Max Verstappen backs Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez after podium finish at Hungaroring

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has thrown his weight behind teammate Sergio Perez after the Mexican driver broke his streak of disappointing performances with a podium finish at the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix last Sunday.

Before the Hungaroring weekend, Perez had endured a string of five races without reaching Q3, struggling with multiple incidents and lacklustre performances, which had left him 99 points behind Verstappen in the Drivers' standings.

Early on during the opening practice session at the Hungaroring, Perez faced a setback when he crashed within five minutes. However, a big improvement in qualifying saw him secure the ninth spot on the grid.

Exhibiting impressive his driving skills, Perez managed to secure third place by the end of the race, reducing the points gap to Verstappen by 11 points.

When asked about his teammate's performances this season, Verstappen told the media, "I don't like to give out numbers because you never do justice to it - I hate it. I really hated it at school... Letters you could also have, right? You got A, B, C. I never really had a lot of As at school. As a team in general, to have won all the races so far has been good."

Perez's position within the team has been under scrutiny due to his recent performances and the return of Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri.

Nonetheless, Verstappen emphasized, "We're first and second in the championship, so it's been good. It doesn't matter if it's perfect. It's never perfect but if it's really good, it's fine. We just need to keep on working.

"Sometimes you have a few tough moments where you make mistakes, you learn from them, you become a better driver and you move on. That's how it goes. Some things are also out of your control."

Mark your calendars for Sunday, 30 July, as the Belgian Grand Prix awaits at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.