Verstappen needs a better teammate at Red Bull Racing

Since Daniel Ricciardo's departure, Red Bull Racing have long struggled to find a second driver alongside Max Verstappen. Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon still proved too inexperienced for a role in a top team at the side of a top driver, but Perez has still not really convinced either.

Perez was possibly strongest in 2022 and early 2023. In 2022, he clearly made a step up from 2021. He was ahead of Verstappen in a number of qualifying sessions and even finished ahead of Verstappen in a number of races in 2022 and early 2023. That upward trend earned him a new deal through 2024. After that, however, things did not improve.

How it went wrong for Perez

Indeed, things have gone downhill for Perez since then. The Mexican has not finished a single qualifying session or race in a higher position than his teammate since Azerbaijan 2023. Not only that, but the difference in qualifying continued to widen again. In 2024, it is 8-0 in Verstappen's favour with more than three tenths average difference per qualifying session.

This big difference on Saturday ensures that there is room for competitors to get between the two Red Bulls. In 2022 and 2023 this was less successful because Red Bull had by far the best car, in 2024 Ferrari and McLaren have moved closer. In Monaco, those two teams were even faster and those driver duos do sit close together. As a result, it now regularly happens that Verstappen and Perez are miles apart.

At a time when you have the best car, this difference between two drivers obviously doesn't matter much to a team. The title will be won anyway. In previous years, Verstappen jokingly said that he could win the constructors' title himself. That looks set to be very, very difficult in 2024.

Surely, with an expiring contract for Perez, it is time for Red Bull Racing to seriously reconsider the position of the second driver. Perez has done fine, but wouldn't Carlos Sainz do better in that seat? And Yuki Tsunoda who is excelling at Visa Cash App RB? Who defeates Daniel Ricciardo on a weekly basis, the man who was once a perfect match for Verstappen in his good days.

A return of Albon was not feasible, but Sainz and Tsunoda are free to commit before 2025. Sainz may want a longer deal, but as a team, why wouldn't you want to tie down Sainz for '25 and '26. With Verstappen and Sainz, Red Bull would have a shot at having the best line-up on the F1 grid. That is certainly not the Verstappen-Perez combo. Don't you dare with Sainz, try Tsunoda. After all, what else does he have to do to earn that seat?