Looking for a new teammate for Verstappen: Perez is broken

Second driver on an F1 team

Being second driver on an F1 team, as mentioned, is not easy. The top athletes who are in Formula 1 all have the belief that they are the best driver. The problem is, however, that this is obviously not the case. In any sport, one is always the best and at the moment that seems to be Verstappen. Go and put someone next to that.

As a team, Red Bull Racing went through it before with Sebastian Vettel. The German won four world titles and gobbled up almost all the wins. Mark Webber himself really felt he could win races and titles and also came very close in 2010, but as the years went by, the gap with his teammate got bigger and bigger. After five seasons and 94 Grands Prix alongside Vettel, Webber said goodbye to F1.

A similar scenario played out at Mercedes. Between 2014 and 2021, Mercedes was the dominant force in F1, with Lewis Hamilton as the ultimate showpiece. Nico Rosberg struggled to match that, and after one title in 2016, he had completely drained himself. 78 Grands Prix alongside Lewis was the max, that was simply not in the cards.

After Rosberg came Valtteri Bottas, who lasted 100 races alongside Hamilton as second driver. The Finn held his own for a long time, and with five seasons can join the ranks of Webber and Rubens Barrichello. Indeed, the Brazilian is the man with the most races on his record as a second driver. He was Michael Schumacher's lieutenant at Ferrari for 104 Grands Prix.

Barrichello is THE example of the ideal number two. Able to win for years in the constructors, but just not fast enough to really get in the way of the number one. Eddie Irvine also fulfilled that role quite nicely for Barrichello, but lasted 54 Grands Prix at the German's side.

Perez is broken

Playing second fiddle for years has its limits. After all, you lose a lot when it turns out that you have invested years in a dream of becoming world champion, but there is simply someone better than you. Perez seems to have come to that conclusion now too, and it has broken him.

Perez is sitting on 54 races and at the end of 2023 there will be 66. Perez still has a contract through 2024 and could thus reach a total of 90 races alongside Verstappen, but does he want to? The Mexican seems broken, failing to get through to Q3 five times now, and internally they are also starting to have doubts. Has Perez perhaps already reached his limit and, if so, what is the alternative?

Alexander Albon is being pushed to the fore due to his recent performances and, in terms of talent, is certainly not a bad name. Albon has re-established himself at Williams after a difficult period at Red Bull Racing and is really the man there. Albon was also linked to Ferrari last weekend, which is not surprising given Albon's performances.

Still, you have to wonder whether Albon wants to return to Red Bull Racing. Of course you get in with a team that wins races and titles, but Albon also knows he won't beat Verstappen. At 27, is he ready for that step, to really settle into a role as a second driver? For him, it would be better to grow into the leader of Williams and perhaps eventually sign with another team where he can become the leader and win races.

In search of the new Barrichello

So what makes an ideal second driver? Actually, Red Bull has got an ideal answer to that with Perez. After years of trying with young talents, the ideal man alongside a top driver turned out to be an experienced one. Earlier, Red Bull had that with Webber, now with Perez. A driver with the right degree of experience, but just not the speed to really get in the way of the top driver. If Perez can no longer bring that up mentally, who can?

Daniel Ricciardo is logically the first to be mentioned. As Red Bull Racing's third and reserve driver, he has the chance to show internally this year that he can still race. At McLaren, Ricciardo slipped fast and hard, but at Red Bull he is visibly back at ease. He himself says he would also like to finish his career at Red Bull.

Why not you might think? Ricciardo and Verstappen get along just fine, Ricciardo will know his role better than he did in 2018 and is only too happy to be driving a competitive car again. Ricciardo has the right dose of experience and will most likely not make a big issue of Verstappen being number one.

The biggest question mark surrounding Ricciardo is his speed. At Red Bull Racing, he was equal to Verstappen between 2016 and 2018, after which he was also the clear number one at Renault, duelling with Nico Hulkenberg and then Esteban Ocon. At McLaren, however, he lost a lot of confidence and returned unrecognisable to Christian Horner in 2023. The question is to what extent the old Daniel can still be recovered, as he does need to be a good second driver.

Red Bull can test Ricciardo well in that respect, as it already has the Australian in house. He will do so during tests for Red Bull Racing, but he is also mentioned as Nyck de Vries' replacement at AlphaTauri. Then he will have another chance to prove himself in that seat in 2023, before making the switch to Red Bull Racing.

What if Ricciardo doesn't get back to his old self?

Should Ricciardo not be deemed good enough for whatever reason, an alternative is still Nico Hulkenberg. The German was already a candidate for 2021, but then Red Bull chose Perez. With Hulkenberg showing at Haas that he still has the right speed, he too could be considered.

Hulkenberg has shown through his career that he is very fast. Especially over one lap. In the race, the German still has occasional lapses, which has also meant he has never been on the podium. At Red Bull Racing, he could, where he too is unlikely to have any problem with the fact that Verstappen is faster and number one. If this allows Hulkenberg to grab another podium at the end of his career and maybe even win a race, he will be only too happy.

The last name to be mentioned is that of Yuki Tsunoda. It seems unlikely that Red Bull will promote the Japanese to the main team. Although Tsunoda is pretty consistent in 2023 and a lot faster than Nyck de Vries, he is far from a stable factor Red Bull can build on. Tsunoda will want to prove himself too much alongside Verstappen and that is not what you want in the battle for the constructors' championship.