Max Verstappen sent offer to quit Red Bull and join F1 rival keen to be his team-mate
Max Verstappen has already made it clear that he does not like to be considered Red Bull’s number one driver, despite a series of dominant performances forcing Sergio Perez to weigh up his future with the team. The Mexican has now gone 10 races without a victory as he struggles to keep pace in the Drivers’ Championship.
Perez is approaching the home stretch of his third season at Red Bull, having joined from Racing Point in 2021. Verstappen has won the world title in the two completed seasons since, and the Dutchman is on course to make it three over the coming weeks.
With a deal until the end of 2024, Perez is contractually safe to have another crack at glory with Red Bull for at least one more year. But the veteran F1 star recently hinted that he could assess his options regarding a premature exit.
“With the season we have had, it is important to hold the next races in an environment where I feel I can contribute,” the 33-year-old told DAZN.
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“And if that place for 2024 is not here, we will have to look for other alternatives. I have a contract until next year and at some point next year we will sit down and talk.”
The 145-point gap between the two team-mates in the Drivers’ Championship makes it abundantly clear that Verstappen is the main man at Red Bull. But the 25-year-old made it clear during the early stages of his partnership with Perez that he is not keen on the notion of a ‘number one’ and ‘number two’ within the team.
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“I don’t like to put it that way,” he said. “In the end, we have the same chances. You have to be respected, of course, but I don’t want to be favoured. I don’t think I need that either and in the end it’s not good for the team if it’s that way all of the time.”
F1 fans are keen to see Red Bull swoop for a driver who can readily take the fight to Verstappen at the front of the field. Team advisor Helmut Marko recently admitted that McLaren’s Lando Norris is admired, although his long-term contract could present complications.
“Perez is not consistent,” Marko told Servus TV. “He is not always focused. But he has a contract until 2024 and Lando Norris has a contract until 2025. Unfortunate that it’s for so long because he would be one of the candidates.
“We had already reached an agreement with Norris for Toro Rosso at the time, until his manager realised that there was an option in the contract with McLaren. But in terms of youth and speed, he would suit us very well.”
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