Pérez has no future at Red Bull, says Schumacher. Who does he see as the ideal teammate for Verstappen?

Is Sergio Pérez on his way out of Red Bull? According to former driver Ralf Schumacher, there is reportedly already an agreement in place for the Mexican driver to leave Red Bull at the end of the season. But who does he think would be a suitable teammate for Max Verstappen?

Below-average qualifying times, driving mistakes and ultimately pure race pace compared to Verstappen are all reasons for the mounting pressure on Pérez.

The Mexican racer is currently second in the drivers’ championship with 201 points. However, he is 138 points behind the leader Verstappen, which is a truly abysmal loss considering that he is driving the fastest monoposto in the starting field.

From a team perspective – if Pérez can finish this season in second place in the drivers’ championship, Red Bull will probably have no reason to change. But according to former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, Pérez has no future at Red Bull.

“I think his days at Red Bull are numbered. Dr. Helmut Marko is not known for his warm attitude towards Pérez and I don’t think he can handle it that well as a person. That explains these serious mistakes. I think there were already agreements to part ways after the season,” Schumacher said in the Sky Sports article.

Among the serious mistakes Schumacher counts, for example, the pit stop when Pérez leaned his car against the barriers at the entrance to the pit lane. He also leaned his car against the tech-barrier on a wet track and damaged his rear wing.

Had it not been for the subsequent red flags and the suspension of the Dutch Grand Prix when Red Bull repaired Pérez’s car, the Mexican would very likely not have finished the previous race with the damaged rear wing.

But who could have replaced him?

“I imagine that Lando Norris would have been Verstappen’s new teammate earlier. The two seem to be good friends. I suppose Verstappen will eventually decide who his teammate will be,” Schumacher, as Sky Sports expert, thinks.

“It’s not unusual. It was already the case with Senna, his brother was right about that too. When a driver like Verstappen contributes so much to the success of the team, I think it’s also good to have his back as much as possible,” he adds.

Finally, Schumacher also noted that in his opinion Liam Lawson is one of the options for the AlphaTauri B team. Dr Marko is said to have a lot of faith in him, and it is also a positive for the New Zealander that he made the most of the race weekend in the Netherlands.

Returning driver Daniel Ricciardo has already beaten Juki Cunda on his first opportunity, posting times at Silverstone testing that would otherwise reportedly have meant pole position. Pérez hasn’t put in a qualifying performance like that in a Red Bull monocoque for a long time. And, of course, that’s one of the things that puts pressure on him.

Sources: F1