Sergio Pérez was Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull Racing for four years and was at his side every time the Dutchman won his Formula 1 title. Now Verstappen has said a few warm words about the Mexican, who will probably have to give up his cockpit to the dethroned world constructors’ champion.
When Max Verstappen won his first of four world championship titles in the 2021 Formula 1 season, he was particularly able to thank his teammate Sergio Pérez, who drove the then World Championship competitor Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes over several laps at the much-noticed season finale in Abu Dhabi stopped so cleverly that Verstappen could advance.
In the recent past, however, Pérez has repeatedly had difficulties and was no longer always up to speed in 2024 and 2023. This year, the Mexican’s poor performance even meant that Red Bull Racing missed out on the team world championship title. While Pérez was heavily criticized by experts, Verstappen now threw himself into the firing line for the veteran.
In a media round after the last Grand Prix race in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen said: “I’ve always worked very well with Checo, he’s honestly a great guy. It’s very rare that you have a teammate like him, who always “Very good and just a nice guy.”
Verstappen: People were hard on Pérez
Pérez suffered “one hundred percent” from the Red Bull car, especially in 2024, explained Verstappen, who also had his problems with the suddenly weakening RB20 in the middle of the season, but significantly less than Pérez. In any case, the four-time world champion emphasized that he “actually understood” the situation in which the Mexican found himself with the car. In the last few races, Pérez had problems in qualifying and then had difficulty getting a top 10 place in the races.
Pérez was still criticized far too much. “I work with him every weekend week after week and I find that people are very hard on him,” emphasized Verstappen, but also added: “Of course there were some weekends that perhaps inherently could have gone better.” Nevertheless, “people were very hard on him” because the Mexican was “not an idiot.”
After all, his teammate has proven time and again in recent years that he is “a great driver” and the team’s weak phase was “hard for everyone because the driving was so difficult.”