Max Verstappen has voiced his support for Sergio Perez as his Red Bull teammate faces an expected departure following the conclusion of the 2024 Formula 1 season. Perez is in the final stages of negotiating his exit terms with Red Bull after four seasons with the team.
Perez was instrumental in Verstappen’s maiden world championship victory in 2021 and helped Red Bull achieve their first drivers’ championship one-two last year. However, after a strong start to 2024 with four podiums in the first five races, his performance has declined significantly, leaving him without a top-three finish since and contributing to Red Bull losing the constructors’ title.
This has left Red Bull to part ways with Perez, who is contracted until the end of 2026. The Mexican has acknowledged that discussions this week will likely focus on ending his contract early, as he is reportedly aware that his Red Bull tenure is coming to an end. Despite the likelihood of his departure due to his struggles, Perez has found support in Verstappen, his four-time world champion teammate, who praised their working relationship and called Perez “a great guy.”
“Honestly, it’s very rare that you have a team-mate like him. He’s always been very good and just a nice guy too. I work with him every weekend and week in, week out. I find people have been very harsh on him. Of course, some weekends maybe could have been better, naturally, but sometimes people have been very harsh on him because he’s not an idiot.” Perez said.
“He’s always been regarded as a great driver, and it’s been tough. But it’s been tough for everyone in the team because sometimes it [the RB20] was just very difficult to drive,” he added.
Since the break, Perez’s best result has been a seventh-place finish, earning him just 21 points, fewer than Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, equal to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, and only two points more than Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg. While his performance in Abu Dhabi was relatively decent compared to his recent form, with a three to four-tenth gap to Verstappen at his best, it still left him starting 10th on the grid.
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Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
