Sergio Perez's father has suggested Max Verstappen would struggle for performance if he drove the other Red Bull car. Perez endured a difficult 2024 campaign and parted ways with the Milton Keynes-based squad at the end of the season. The Mexican driver failed to progress into the final stage of qualifying on nine occasions and ended the year 285 points adrift of Verstappen who secured his fourth F1 title. He was replaced by Liam Lawson who faced similar struggles and lasted just two rounds before being sent back to Racing Bulls. Perez Senior has suggested the second car at Red Bull is fundamentally distinct to Verstappen's machine, creating a performance differential. "What I'm about to say will cause a lot of commotion, but the car with number 1 [Verstappen] was not the same as the car with number 11 (Perez],” he said on the podcast Formula de 2. "And if you were to put the driver of car 1 in car 11, he won't get out of Q1 in qualifying either and he won't pass the car with number 1. If you put the driver from car 1 in car 11, he doesn't do any better. "So it does lie with the car. The cars were not the same.” Lawson's exit from the team has allowed Yuki Tsunoda to step up to the senior team as he gets his chance at the Milton Keynes-based outfit. Perez Senior is hopeful Tsunoda can enjoy a positive debut at home race at Suzuka. “I hope things are different today and that in Japan Yuki has the best car Red Bull can give him,” he added. “They cannot disappoint the Japanese fans, they have to give Yuki the best means to fight. And so he has to have the same car.”
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