Max Verstappen delivers farewell message to Sergio Perez: “I will always be thankful”

Max Verstappen has thanked Sergio Perez for being “straightforward” and “honest” during their time as teammates in F1.

On Wednesday, Red Bull announced they would part ways with Perez ahead of the 2025 season, bringing his F1 career to an end - at least for now.

A day later, Liam Lawson was announced as Verstappen’s new teammate for 2025.

Lawson will be Verstappen’s fifth Red Bull teammate after Perez, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, and Daniel Ricciardo.

Verstappen paid tribute to Perez’s contribution at Red Bull, making reference to the qualities he has shown as a person, not just as an F1 teammate.

He said during a short video on Red Bull’s social media channels: “I remember this one [A picture of Perez and Verstappen celebrating in parc ferme after Abu Dhabi 2021].

“He’s been a great teammate to me. As you can see of course in this picture, without his help in that race that wouldn’t have happened. I will always be thankful to him for that.

“I think what is the really most important thing, it’s always been enjoyable, straightforward, honest.

“There’s not many times you will have a teammate you can say all these things about.

“I am very thankful to Checo as a person, not as a teammate. It’s been really nice to work with.”

Perez plays crucial role in Verstappen’s first F1 title

While Red Bull missed out on the 2021 constructors’ title to Mercedes, Perez’s role in helping Verstappen win the drivers’ title cannot be understated.

Perez’s defence at the Turkish Grand Prix cost Lewis Hamilton crucial points - potentially a podium finish.

More crucially though, in the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP, Perez’s stern defence and backing up of Hamilton ensured the seven-time world champion did not have a sufficient pit stop gap when the VSC or SC was deployed.

Even with Michael Masi’s mishandling of the race, had Hamilton been able to open a pit stop gap over Verstappen, he would have been able to pit for fresh tyres and potentially remain ahead after the controversial Safety Car restart.