The future of Czech Pérez seems to be moving further and further away from Red Bull and the father of Max Verstappen, Josephbelieves that the best thing for her son would be to change partners. The Mexican’s performance this season is well below what is expected of him, he has obtained worse results than his teammate. This has led those in Milton Keynes to consider continuing next season.
Although he recently renewed at Red Bull until 2026, as team boss Christian Horner said, “F1 is based on results” and those in Gudalajara are not up to the task. In addition, Liam Lawson, who replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB, the energy drinks subsidiary, achieved very good results, finishing ahead of 11th place in the last two races.
This whole series of events has sparked rumors about his possible departure from Red Bull at the end of the year. The last to speak out on this issue was Verstappen’s father, Jose Verstappenthat considers that it would be best to change partners. According to the former pilot, a more competitive partner could “push a little” his son to be even better. For the moment, Franco Colapinto and Lawson are considered replacements.
Lawson is gaining ground for promotion to the first team after his performance in the first three races: “He’s doing really well, I think he’s ready to take a step forward. Let’s let this season finish and gain confidence and then the team can decide what to do for next year,” commented Jos Verstappen in Viaplay.
Jos Verstappen “sends out” Checo Pérez
In the last two races, Checo Pérez was behind Lawson, while during the New Zealander’s debut he was only two positions ahead. Jos Verstappen is clear that the best thing, both for the team and for Max, is the Mexican’s departure: “I’m certainly not against it. It’s better to have someone competitive and pushes Max a little. It always helps, but we’ll see.”
After the Brazilian Grand Prix, which Max Verstappen won with a truly genius victory, Pérez showed off after finishing in eleventh position while his teammate returned to the top step of the podium and carried a big blow to the championship. Horner said there was no reason to justify such a different performance from his two drivers, meaning neither car had any problems: “Not to my knowledge, there was nothing obvious for me in the race.”
By finishing eleventh, Checo did not score any points in the race and this hampered Red Bull, who could not take advantage of the punctures of McLaren and Ferrari to cut points from their rivals in the fight for the World Constructors’ Championship: “It was an opportunity in the Manufacturers’ World Cup to make a good profit to Ferrari and McLaren and, unfortunately, we were not able to take advantage of it,” said the team principal. Despite Verstappen’s victory, the energy drink people are finding it increasingly difficult to revalidate their title Builders.
