Sergio Perez has been backed to remain with Red Bull after his current Formula 1 contract expires at the end of 2024 by former driver Pedro de la Rosa. The Mexican joined Red Bull in time for the 2021 season, signing a fresh deal before the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix to extend his stay at Milton Keynes until the end of the 2024 season. However, given intra-team tensions with Max Verstappen, there has been some doubt about his long-term future with the team. But veteran de la Rosa - now an Aston Martin ambassador - believes five-time Grand Prix winner Perez has done enough in a vital area to stay where he is.
De la Rosa makes Perez claim
"I really think that Checo will stay at Red Bull, or should stay because he's been getting stronger and stronger race-by-race since he joined Red Bull," former McLaren racer de la Rosa explained on the F1 Nation podcast. "He's proved that it's not easy to adapt to a big team or car, especially with this new Formula 1, and there's very few drivers that if you throw them into a new car or team, they will just perform and adapt themselves to the car. "Most of the drivers need the car to adapt to them, and I think Checo is an example of how he really managed to adapt the car to his driving style. "These new modern cars are really complex, you have no testing and you need to play with what the engineers call 'the toys' which is the brake balance, brake migration, engine braking, and differential, so that is pretty complex. "It's not only about springs and bars, so now that Checo is performing well, I don't see Red Bull replacing him."
Thoughts echoed by Smedley
Former Ferrari and Williams engineer Rob Smedley agreed with de la Rosa that Red Bull would make a change. "It's difficult that the senior team are going to make a change," he said. "Checo is doing a really good job now, and they've got good harmony within the team as well. "Max is performing and they publicly say 'there's no number one, there's no number two', but they're very, very interested in how Max is doing and Max's welfare and Max is performing and is happy that Checo is getting the points that he needs to get. "So I think it will be difficult to see a change in the team."
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