Red Bull shares a heartwarming video of Max Verstappen remembering Sergio Perez's defensive driving against Lewis Hamilton in 2021
In a video posted by Red Bull, Max Verstappen has recalled Sergio Perez's masterful defensive driving against Lewis Hamilton in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale. The Mexican driver and the Austrian team announced that they would be parting ways for the 2025 season despite the former getting a contract extension earlier in the season ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Despite an unfortunate end to the partnership, Perez and Red Bull had some memorable moments in their four years including his resistance against Hamilton in the epic season-finale in Abu Dhabi, which helped Verstappen win his first world championship. Red Bull shared a video of the Dutch driver talking about an image of the two drivers hugging each other after the end of an epic race and paying tribute to the Mexican, saying:
"He's been a great teammate to me as you can see also of course in this picture. You know, without his help in that race that wouldn't have happened so I will always be thankful to him for that. He’s always been just really enjoyable, straightforward, honest, and that’s not many times that you will have a teammate that I can tell all these things about. I’ve been very thankful to Checo [Sergio Perez], also just as a person, not just as a teammate."
Verstappen wrote a more personal tribute as a send-off to his former teammate on his social media platform, Instagram, where he posted a series of pictures with Perez and said:
"It’s been an absolute pleasure driving alongside you 🙏 We’ve had some amazing moments together that I’ll always remember. Thank you, Checo!"
His contract would have seen Sergio Perez race until the end of 2025 at least with an option to extend for a year. However, the six-time race winner will leave the team immediately due to some performance clauses that enabled the Milton Keynes outfit to terminate the deal.
When Max Verstappen spoke about Sergio Perez's contribution to his title in Abu Dhabi 2021
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen previously said that Sergio Perez was a "rare" teammate after winning his first world championship in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Speaking with F1.com in his first interview after becoming world champion, the Dutchman recalled the role of the Mexican and said:
"When we started working together, it’s difficult to know exactly how it’s going to work out. But Checo is an amazing human being. Not only just to work with in F1 but a super nice person, a real family man as well, and yes, I really have a lot of good times with him and you can see he really means it, and he means well.
It’s very rare to have a teammate like that and what he showed today, he was a real team player and I really hope we can continue this for a long time."
It is unclear if Perez will return to F1 in the future with another team or if he has run his final race at the pinnacle of motorsport.