Max Verstappen believes Sergio Perez experienced some "very harsh" treatment through the 2024 F1 season, arguing his Red Bull team-mate is "not an idiot."
The Dutchman has said he sympathises with the 34-year-old's plight, with a second round of crunch talks between Perez and the Milton Keynes team happening following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after he was granted a stay of dismissal over the summer.
Whilst Perez maintains he will not relinquish his race seat at Red Bull, he still may be forced to step aside, with Liam Lawson waiting in the wings to take over.
In August, the Mexican was given a reprieve until the end of the year. However, his results have worsened.
Over the final 10 rounds, the six-time grand prix winner scored 21 points. Meanwhile, Verstappen claimed 152, including two victories in a difficult RB20.
The four-time F1 drivers' champion feels their tricky car has been the nucleus of Perez's struggles through most of the campaign.
After the season-ending race at the Yas Marina Circuit, he was asked if he felt his team-mate had suffered from the problems Red Bull has endured with its car this season. "100 percent, yeah," he replied to media including RacingNews365.
When it was queried whether he felt sympathy towards Perez, Verstappen confirmed that was indeed the case.
"I do," he said. "I work with him every weekend, week in, week out, and I find people have been very harsh on him.
"Of course, there are some weekends [that] maybe could have been better, actually, but sometimes people have been very harsh on him, because he's not an idiot.
"He's always been regarded as a great driver, and it's been tough, but it's been tough for everyone in the team, because sometimes it was just very difficult to drive [the RB20]."
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