has defended teammate after what he described as “very harsh” criticism of the Mexican driver.
The Dutchman, who claimed his fourth successive world championship in 2024, completed 285 factors forward of Perez within the .
A torrid run of outcomes for Perez has resulted in , with Purple Bull anticipating to decide this week about whether or not Yuki Tsunoda or will substitute the 34-year-old for 2025.
But Verstappen, who has been teammates with Perez since 2021, had sympathy for the person alongside him within the storage, admitting that the RB20 automobile was “troublesome to drive” at some levels all through the season.
“I work with him each weekend, week in, week out,” Verstappen stated, on the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi. “I discover individuals have been very harsh on him.
“In fact, some weekends perhaps might have been higher, however generally individuals have been very harsh on him as a result of he’s not an fool.
“He’s at all times been thought to be an important driver and it’s been robust, however it’s been robust for everybody within the staff as a result of generally it was simply very troublesome to drive.
“I at all times labored very well with Checo. He’s an important man, actually. It’s very uncommon that you’ve got a team-mate like him who has at all times been excellent and only a good man to us.”
Perez, nevertheless, has remained steadfast in his perception that he will probably be racing in once more subsequent 12 months.
“I simply know I’ve obtained a contract to race this 12 months, except one thing modifications within the coming days, that’s going to be the state of affairs subsequent 12 months,” he stated.
“I’ve obtained a contract which I signed earlier within the 12 months to race for the staff for the subsequent two years. So we’ll see what occurs and the way the dialog goes within the coming days.”
After 4 podiums in his first 5 races, Perez failed to complete above sixth place after race six in Miami.
His poor kind meant Purple Bull didn’t defend their constructors’ title, with McLaren and Ferrari each ending forward of Christian Horner’s staff
