Verstappen hails "on fire" Perez in Red Bull charge

Max Verstappen has praised in-form team-mate Sergio Perez for assisting with getting Red Bull's title charge back on track in recent races.

The gap between Mercedes and Red Bull at the top of F1's constructors' standings has been reduced to just a single point heading to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix with Milton Keynes-based outfit reducing the deficit by 35 points in the last two races.

This has coincided with a purple patch for Perez, who has earned three consecutive podium finishes, including at his home race last weekend.

"It would mean a lot to the team to win," said Verstappen, assessing the remaining races.

"We of course work for both Championships so to get those points today was amazing.

On his team-mate, he added: "Checo has been on fire for the past few races. For now, we are taking it race by race and we just need to keep pushing."

Interlagos proved fruitful to Red Bull on F1's last visit in 2019 as Verstappen left victorious, with Alex Albon only taken out of podium contention after contact with Lewis Hamilton late on.

"Heading to Brazil, it’s difficult to say how competitive we are going to be," warned Verstappen.

"In 2019 we won the race but it was a close battle all the way through and I expect something very similar again this year.

"Let’s see what the weather forecast is going to be because that can impact the performance quite a bit.

"It’s also a sprint race this weekend; I tend to do well in the sprint race but then get bad race results so let’s try and turn it around."

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