Max Verstappen F1 team-mate PROBLEM arises ahead of Red Bull debut

Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez walk together in the paddock — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

Verstappen team-mate PROBLEM arises ahead of Red Bull debut

Max Verstappen will have a new team-mate for the 2025 season

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 15 January 2025 13:53

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Sergio Perez issued a warning to incoming Red Bull drivers, ahead of his axe from the team at the end of the 2024 season.

Following a 2024 season that was marred with dismal qualifying and race performances, Red Bull confirmed following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that Perez would take a 'sabbatical' from the sport.

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The Mexican driver did not achieve a podium finish since the Chinese GP back in April, and his eighth-place drivers' championship finish severely hampered Red Bull's chance of retaining their constructors' championship crown.

Perez has been replaced by Liam Lawson, the Kiwi racer who was only promoted into a full-time seat on the F1 grid back in September, replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull sister team VCARB.

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Sergio Perez was axed by Red Bull after the 2024 season

Liam Lawson will be Max Verstappen's team-mate in 2025

Verstappen's team-mate - the nightmare job?

Perez is not the only racer to have struggled in comparison to Max Verstappen at Red Bull. Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Ricciardo to an extent have struggled to keep up with the Dutchman, although in 2017 Ricciardo became the only team-mate to beat Verstappen in the championship across a full season.

While Verstappen claimed 53 victories in the time Perez spent as his team-mate, the Mexican racer only achieved five in that period, despite Red Bull having a vastly dominant car in both 2022 and 2023.

Can Liam Lawson take the fight to Max Verstappen?

Now, the mantle falls to Lawson to try and keep up with the supreme pace of Verstappen, or at least stay close enough to him in the drivers' championship to put Red Bull back into constructors' contention.

Speaking to media at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP in 2024, his last race as a Red Bull driver, Perez sent a warning to younger drivers about the perils of testing their mettle against four-time champion Verstappen.

"It's an incredible challenge, I knew what I signed for when I came here," he said.

"It's an incredible challenge that people should not underestimate the level of experience, the level of capacity, of mental strength that you need to cope with the extreme challenge.

"Being team-mates with Max at Red Bull as a young driver, I wouldn't like to be in those shoes. People cannot underestimate the level of challenge that they're seeing."