F1
With only 4 points on his license and close to a suspension, does Verstappen plan to adapt his driving in 2025?
3
F1
Verstappen believes 'people have been very hard' on Perez this season
© Florent Gooden / DPPI
This is the last question of this long, intense and exceptional 2024 season in Formula 1 : what will happen to Sergio Perez at Red Bull ? The Mexican's place in the Austrian team is more threatened than ever: "Checo" has had a black season, without scoring a single victory and with only four podiums, all acquired at the very beginning of the season. A cruel lack of performance that cost Red Bull the Constructors' title, since Sergio Pérez only scored 152 points, 285 points less than his teammate Max Verstappen – a record gap in the discipline.
Before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Christian Horner has confirmed that discussions will take place between the two parties in the week after the final round of the season, in order to discuss the future of the 34-year-old driver. According to our information, Sergio Pérez should not drive for Red Bull and would be replaced by Liam Lawson, which would leave the Racing Bulls seat available for Isack Hadjar. The official announcement of this decision could be made as early as this week.
ALSO READ > Hadjar set to become Tsunoda's teammate at Racing Bulls in 2025
However, as long as nothing is official, anything is still possible... and when we ask the four-time world champion who his ideal teammate would be for 2025, Max Verstappen prefers to dodge the issue while defending his teammate. "I don't know, it's up to the team to decide. I've always worked very well with Checo. He's a great man. Honestly, it's very rare to have a teammate like him. He's always been very good and he's a nice guy."
Despite some tensions between the two men in 2022, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have always maintained a very good relationship. During the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Mexican had fiercely defended his position against Lewis Hamilton, causing the Briton to lose precious seconds – and possibly the title – in his duel with the Dutchman. Obviously, even if he suspects that he will have a new driver at his side in 2025, the four-time world champion appreciates the presence of Sergio Pérez at Red Bull and even believes that the many criticisms against him are sometimes too virulent.
"I work with him every weekend, week in and week out, and I find people have been very hard on him, says Max Verstappen. Of course there are weekends that could have been better, but sometimes people have been very hard on him, because he is not stupid. He has always been considered a great driver and it has been difficult, but it has been difficult for everyone in the team because the car has been very complicated to drive at times. And what if, thanks to the support and defense of Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez still had a tiny chance of hanging on to his seat at Red Bull, a team entirely devoted to the Dutch driver anyway? The influence of the Verstappen clan is not to be neglected…
Dorian Grangier
A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.
Continue reading on these topics:
Read also
vincent moyet
10/12/2024 at 08:26 a.m.
When no one wanted to listen to Perez when the car was starting to lose performance, on the pretext that Verstappen was still able to compensate with his driving, was he gentle with his teammate at that time? Was it not this lack of foresight and the contempt for Perez clearly displayed by Marko and his racist remarks, which precipitated the loss of the constructors' title? Leaving this basket of crabs would be the best thing that could happen to Checo.
Yves-Henri RANDIER
10/12/2024 at 05:22 a.m.
"People were very hard on Checo!" according to Verstappen. Maybe, but wasn't he merciless with him (as with his previous teammates) by absolutely insisting on humiliating him in terms of performance? The difference between a winning machine and a water carrier who at one time excelled on urban tracks!