Jos: ‘I don’t know how good Perez is’
Looking ahead to who his son could drive alongside in 2021, Jos Verstappen has said he’s unsure as to how good Sergio Perez is.
With Alex Albon struggling in 2020, who will be Max Verstappen’s team-mate next season has been unclear for some time and still is.
Both Nico Hulkenberg and Perez are available, and many feel that the Mexican, in particular, should be signed as a replacement for Albon given his excellent form this season.
If Sky Sport’s Ted Kravitz is to be believed, we’ll finally have an answer to who will partner Verstappen in the coming weeks, with the Red Bull reportedly set to announce that Perez is joining.
“We are expecting an announcement maybe in the next coming week that Sergio Perez has joined the team,” said Kravitz.
“And Alex Albon will stay on as a test and reserve driver.
“It does look like Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have managed to convince Dietrich Mateschitz, who wanted to keep the faith with Alex Albon, to sign Perez.
“It seems like there is nothing to lose [signing Perez]. They may as well see how it goes [with him] and if he can’t do the job that they want him to do then they’ve Alex in reserve. That seems to be the elegant solution Red Bull has gone with.”
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Given his experience and how well he’s driven this season, it is largely expected that Perez would pose a much bigger challenge to Verstappen than Albon.
In fact, many feel that this is exactly why the team has been so reluctant to sign Checo, despite the fact that he’s been one of the drivers of the year.
However, Max’s father, Jos, who claims to know nothing about who will take the second Red Bull seat, is uncertain about just how good Perez is.
“No, I really don’t know. I haven’t heard anything yet. Otherwise, I would have known,” he told Ziggo Sport.
“Let’s wait and see where he stands in relation to Max and Albon next year. I don’t know how good Perez is”
Verstappen ended 2020 on a high, cruising to victory in the final race in which Red Bull had a comfortably faster car than Mercedes for the first time this season.
Jos thinks that if the team can start next season in the same manner, we could have a title fight on our hands.
“The start of next season is more important than the end of this season. If we can start like this early next year, we have a chance,” he added.
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