Three F1 drivers told they could ‘handle’ being Max Verstappen’s teammate amid Sergio Perez’s struggles

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Going up against Max Verstappen in the same team can be hard work, as evidenced by the long line of teammates over the years at Red Bull.

Sergio Perez is the fourth driver to pit themselves against the Dutchman at Red Bull, having previously been paired with Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, and Alex Albon.

Red Bull is currently deciding what they will do with Perez if he does not improve his form during the run of races before the mid-season break in October, after giving him another chance to improve his form.

Ricciardo was originally seen as the best option to replace Perez, but Red Bull believes he would not provide much of a difference in terms of results.

Discussing who would be the best replacement for Perez on the Formel1.de podcast, journalist Marc Surer believes Red Bull should look for a specific type of driver.

Three drivers who could replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull

The Red Bull RB20 is known for being a difficult car to get into the right setup window, which is why the team plans to revert to an older specification car to help Perez get back up to speed.

Both Gasly and Albon were named as drivers by journalist Mark Hughes who could do a better job than Perez currently, but Surer believes there are three other candidates that Red Bull should have considered.

“The Red Bull is hard to drive, but some drivers can adapt to that. Fernando Alonso is a clear example of someone who would be fast because he can easily handle something like that, or a sensitive driver like Carlos Sainz would be fast,” said Surer.

“There are drivers that could keep up with Max, but not all of them. Nico Hulkenberg is also one of them, he is one of those who handle anything.”

Red Bull engineers ‘overstepped mark’ with updates

The team intends to bring more upgrades to its car in the latter stages of 2024, but engineers are already having to retrace their steps to understand where they went wrong during the last batch.

Red Bull will use a mix of old and new parts in Monza to give them a proper read on what works, while also giving Perez a chance to regain his performance from earlier in the season.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Sergio Perez’s life outside F1 from net worth to nickname

Despite heading to circuits such as Singapore and Azerbaijan, Perez could potentially still face the axe if he does not improve his results.

The older car might enable him to regain his confidence, but he must also do it while under pressure from Red Bull to not lose more points in their Constructors’ battle with McLaren.