Sergio Perez is still Red Bull’s best option as a teammate for triple world champion Max Verstappen next season, according to the Mexican’s former boss, Otmar Szafnauer. Perez’s contract with Formula One’s dominating champions expires after the season, leaving the 34-year-old with an unclear future. Former Force India, Aston Martin, and Alpine principal Otmar Szafnauer told reporters that ‘Checo’ would be his pick, a statement he made at a recent Formula One event in Abu Dhabi.

I said, Knowing Checo as well as I do, I’d replace Checo with Checo. If I were team boss Christian (Horner), I would still keep him there for next year, he stated. He’s experienced some lows. Apart from a handful of races where I believe he should have finished higher, he appears to be performing well this year.
Perez is second in the standings after five races, with three seconds and a third, and will return to Miami this weekend, where he won the pole and finished second to Verstappen last year. The Mexican spent seven seasons in Force India/Racing Point, now Aston Martin, before joining Red Bull in 2021.

Verstappen, whose own future is uncertain due to Mercedes’ overtures, won 19 of 22 races last year and has started 2024 with four wins from five, and Szafnauer stated that ‘Max is just better’. The American, who is presently on ‘gardening leave’ and pushing an Event travel app, stated that Perez had never been a terrific qualifier, but race craft was his skill.

There are not many times that I can count where he worked for me where you think, why did you do that in a race? he said. There’s only one time I can remember, in Singapore, where he got frustrated and hit a Williams, but the rest of the time he is very, very good at overtaking without making mistakes and he’s good at it. When he was up against Hulkenberg, Hulkenberg would always get him over a lap, he added. But by the end of it, because Checo could manage his tyres, Checo would get him, Szafnauer expressed.

The 36-year-old Hulkenberg has several more seasons ahead of him after being announced as a Sauber driver for 2025 and then Audi in 2026. Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton will be 40 when he joins Ferrari from Mercedes next season while Aston Martin’s double champion Fernando Alonso is 42.