F1 News
Sergio Perez signs for Red Bull: What does this mean for Verstappen?
On Friday afternoon, it finally became official: Sergio Perez will drive for Red Bull Racing in 2021, alongside Max Verstappen. But what does this actually mean for the Dutchman?
The second Red Bull seat
Since Max Verstappen's arrival at Red Bull, the Dutchman has had three teammates. Perez will officially be the fourth from 2021. Verstappen has been beating his teammates with the Austrian formation since his arrival in 2016. Only Daniel Ricciardo was able to take on the Dutchman. The Australian left in 2018 and since then the second seat at Red Bull has never been filled by a driver who could compete with Verstappen.
Perez must change that in 2021. The Mexican brings a wealth of experience with him that he has mainly gained from midfield teams. Verstappen will still be the number one driver at Red Bull, but with Perez's arrival, it looks like he can finally get the support of a second driver he hasn't had for two years.
After Mercedes
The construction that Red Bull seems to have in mind is very similar to the way Mercedes treat their drivers. A very strong first driver, Lewis Hamilton, and a good second driver, Valtteri Bottas, who supports the first driver and can also win races.
Perez has shown in 2020 that he can win races and should be able to attack the Mercedes with the car that Red Bull has. Something that Alexander Albon barely succeeded in last season. When Perez puts pressure on the Mercedes drivers, the pressure takes off at Verstappen.
This is not all, with the experience that Perez brings he could also be very important in the development of the car. With Albon and Pierre Gasly, Red Bull always had a driver in the car who only had one full season of experience. With Perez, Red Bull can develop the RB16B one step faster than they already did.
Can Perez put pressure on Verstappen?
Perez is a very good driver and specialist in tyre management. Where Verstappen actually had no pressure from his teammate in recent seasons, he can expect that from next season. The team battle, therefore, seems to be a lot more exciting than previous years.
Verstappen won almost every battle against Albon. The Dutchman managed to finish ahead of Albon in every qualifying session and it was the same in the race. Perez will do everything he can to keep that from happening and he has a good chance of beating Verstappen every now and then.
This article was written and originally published by Bonne on the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.