Max Verstappen has defended his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez after what he described as “very harsh” criticism of the Mexican driver.
The Dutchman, who won his fourth consecutive world championship in 2024, finished 285 points ahead of Perez in the drivers’ standings.
A torrid run of results for Perez has led to speculation over his future, with Red Bull expecting to make a decision this week on whether Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson will replace the 34-year-old for 2025.
Yet Verstappen, Perez’s teammate since 2021, had sympathy for the man alongside him in the garage, admitting the RB20 car was “difficult to drive” at certain stages of the season.
“I work with him every weekend, week after week,” Verstappen said during the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. “I think people were very hard on him.
“Of course, some weekends could have been better, but sometimes people have been very hard on him because he’s not an idiot.
“He was always considered a great driver and it was difficult, but it was difficult for everyone in the team because sometimes it was very difficult to drive.
“I have always worked very 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.
Pérez, however, remains firm in his belief that he will race in F1 again next year.
“I just know I have a contract to race this year, unless something changes in the next few days, that will be the case next year,” he said.
“I signed a contract earlier in the year to race for the team for the next two years. So we’ll see what happens and how the conversation goes in the coming days.
After four podium finishes in his first five races, Perez failed to finish higher than sixth after the sixth race in Miami.
Poor form prevented Red Bull from defending their constructors’ title, with McLaren and Ferrari both finishing ahead of Christian Horner’s team.