“He’s not an idiot” - Max Verstappen weighs in on Sergio Perez’s Red Bull struggles

Max Verstappen has weighed in on Sergio Perez’s difficult F1 season with Red Bull, declaring “he’s not an idiot”.

Perez’s future with Red Bull is in the balance after shareholders reportedly held a meeting on Monday to discuss it.

The Mexican’s poor form impacted Red Bull’s constructors’ championship bid, leaving them third overall behind McLaren and Ferrari.

As a result, Red Bull are seriously considering replacing him with either Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson.

Speaking after Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen was once again asked about Perez’s future.

“I don’t know. This is up to the team,” he said. “I always worked really 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.

“I work with him every weekend, week in, week out. I find people have been very harsh on him.

“Of course, some weekends 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. It’s been tough, but it’s been tough for everyone in the team, because sometimes it was very difficult to drive.”

Tsunoda or Lawson for Red Bull?

All signs are pointing towards Lawson getting the call-up to Red Bull alongside Verstappen for next year.

Even though Lawson was out-qualified 6-0 by Tsunoda, the margin between the pair - aside from in Las Vegas - was often less than a tenth.

The way Lawson has adapted to life in F1 with limited experience has impressed Red Bull’s hierarchy, while there are still concerns over Tsunoda’s temperament.

Tsunoda did perform well in the post-season Abu Dhabi test.

He declared that it didn’t require much adaptation to get used to the Red Bull RB20, explaining that it suited his driving style.