Verstappen shields Perez from critics: 'He's not an idiot'
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- Cas van de Kleut
Sergio Perez acknowledged after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that there are talks about his future at Red Bull for the 2025 season. So it looks like Max Verstappen is going to get a new teammate. The Dutchman replied to GPblog and others when asked about whether he has preferences for a teammate.
Verstappen stands by Perez
To this, Verstappen replied: "I always worked really well with Checo. He's a great guy, honestly. It's very rare that you have a teammate like him who has always been very good and just a nice guy to us."
Next, Verstappen also indicated that Perez has been "100%" affected by the problems the team has experienced. Because of that, the Dutchman has sympathy for his teammate: "I do. I work with him every weekend, week in, week out. I find people have been very harsh on him. Of course, some weekends maybe could have been better, actually, but sometimes people have been very harsh on him because he's not an idiot. 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 was just very difficult to drive [the car]."
Who will be Verstappen's teammate?
Perez indicated after the race that he still has a contract with the team, but he also indicated that talks are ongoing. Should the Mexican actually lose his seat, it is likely to be to Liam Lawson, although Yuki Tsunoda is also still a contender for the seat.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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