Former F1 driver makes statement: 'Think Perez is up for retirement'

Max Verstappen was supreme again in Japan. The Dutchman took his thirteenth win of 2023. Perez, on the other hand, showed a negative side this weekend. The Mexican qualified far behind Verstappen, in fifth place in fact. In the race, it was also soon over: after incidents with Hamilton and Magnussen, his car was pushed into the garage. Later in the race, the Mexican did re-enter the track, but after a few minutes, he was back inside.

Lammers critical of Perez

Lammers is critical of Perez: "If you see what Max does with that car. Red Bull is a great car, rocketship, you name it. The only difference between Verstappen and Perez [their cars] is the driver. When you see what he [Perez] does with that car, it's almost capital destruction."

'Perez is due for retirement'

On Saturday morning Japanese time, AlphaTauri announced that Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda will return to drive for Red Bull Racing's sister team next season. This means Liam Lawson will serve as reserve driver for another year. Lammers thinks there is more behind this: "At Red Bull, you always have performance clauses. So I think they let Ricciardo drive there and that if he is not fast enough, they can put Lawson in."

"However, I think there is something else going on," the former Formula One driver tells us. "Lawson is doing so well. How much more fun is this for him? I think he is due for retirement. I think what is happening here is just a total lack of drive, motivation and sharpness. This is coming from somewhere because this is not Perez. He can do much better. I think Red Bull is pre-sorting to put Lawson in that seat right away."