Sergio Perez claims that Yuki Tsunoda has the “mentality to cope” with the Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen as he offers support to the driver.
The Mexican driver was replaced at the Milton Keynes outfit after the 2024 Formula 1 season despite having a contract until the end of this year. Red Bull took the latter races of the year to assess Liam Lawson against Tsunoda after the Kiwi stepped in to replace Daniel Ricciardo. Although the Japanese driver had four years of experience with Racing Bulls, they opted for the young New Zealander to fill Perez’s shoes.
However, after just two races of his first full-time F1 season, Red Bull made a U-turn and have now promoted Tsunoda to drive next to Verstappen while Lawson moves back to the sister team. During an interview with F1.com, Perez has given his support for Tsunoda, explaining:
“I really want the team to do well, as I have a lot of friends at the team. I spent four years with them and I want to see them doing well. It’s just a very hard thing to talk about. Right now, I’m on the outside, I’ve been in touch with some team members there – but when you’re not there internally, it’s hard to know [what’s happening].
“For me, it was very simple, the car is just quite difficult to get 100% out of it, to get the confidence out of it – and the things I struggled with, even Adrian [Newey] talked about them. But I want to wish them the best.
“Woody, who is a great friend of mine, is engineering Yuki now so I really hope they do well. Yuki has the talent, has the speed and, more than that, you need the mentality to cope with it. I think he has the right mentality and the right attitude to cope with it. I hope they will succeed.”
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Erik Junius
While speaking to the media ahead of his Red Bull F1 debut in Japan, Tsunoda revealed that he had received messages and support from Perez and his former AlphaTauri team-mate Pierre Gasly. He commented:
“I got a message from Pierre that he wanted to call me about the experience he had in Red Bull, the things that he should have done in Red Bull, and he just wanted to share a couple of ideas that could work for the coming races in Red Bull.
“So it was very nice of him, and it was very useful tips. Also, I got one from Checo as well. All the Red Bull family drivers, very supportive message, and those two are very supportive to me, so I really appreciate it, and one of the drivers I really respect most of all.”
