Max Verstappen makes his feelings known about how Sergio Perez has been as a teammate at Red Bull

Max Verstappen has come out in support of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez as the Mexican's future looks uncertain. The 2024 F1 season highlighted the stark difference between the two drivers became even more evident as Red Bull's RB20 proved to be a handful.

While Verstappen too struggled with the drop in competitiveness of the car, his performance did not fall off the cliff like Perez's, who was just unable to find the sweet spot with the machinery. The large gap in performance has ended up costing Red Bull a shot at the Constructors Championship in 2024 as the team fell to P3 in the standings.

In light of this, Red Bull has been speculating about a replacement with both Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda in the running. While Perez's future hangs in the balance, Verstappen was questioned on what his view was on the Mexican's performances this season.

Backing his teammate, Verstappen said that people had been very harsh on Perez this season. Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, he said:

“ I have always worked well with Checo. He is a really great guy. It is rare that you have a teammate like him, who has always been very good to us and is just a nice guy. ”

Verstappen added:

“I work with him every weekend, week in, week out. I think people have been very hard on him. Of course, some weekends could have been better, but sometimes people have been very hard on him, because he is not an idiot. He has always been a great driver and it was difficult, but it was difficult for everyone in the team because sometimes it was just very difficult to drive [the car]. ”

Max Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez on his future with Red Bull

Sergio Perez did not have the best race in Abu Dhabi. He had a collision with Valtteri Bottas on the first lap, and then a reliability issue forced him into an early retirement. The Mexican was questioned about his future and whether he sees himself driving in F1 next to Max Verstappen in 2025. He said that he still had a contract with Red Bull.

According to Perez, it was all about coming to an agreement between the two drivers, as he said:

“I think we know how difficult this year has been so I think it’s just a matter of discussing what’s best for everyone going forwards. We’ll see what happens. At the moment, it’s all I know. I’ve got a contract to drive next year so it will be down to reaching an agreement hopefully. See what the team wants to do.”

If reports are to be believed, Sergio Perez will not be teamed up with Max Verstappen next season. The seat next to the Dutch driver would more than likely go to Liam Lawson.