Max Verstappen has clear stance with little support for Sergio Perez’s Red Bull future.

Max Verstappen is likely to be partnered by Sergio Perez again next year but Daniel Ricciardo is making a strong case to replace the under-pressure Mexican at Red Bull

According to Martin Brundle, Max Verstappen doesn’t give a damn if Sergio Perez continues to hold the Red Bull seat.

Despite rumors that he might be replaced at the end of this season, the Mexican is expected to play out the entire 2024 season under contract. However, there’s no guarantee he will end the campaign in the same capacity, even if he does begin it as a Red Bull driver.

Red Bull have rarely hesitated to make mid-season driver changes in the past and Perez will not get any special treatment if he cannot deliver the results required. Daniel Ricciardo is waiting in the wings at sister team AlphaTauri, keen to win back the seat he voluntarily vacated five years ago.

The one guaranteed constant amid any driver upheaval will be Verstappen. The triple champion is currently unstoppable and has a contract to keep leading Red Bull’s charge until the end of 2028.

Amid Perez’s struggles this season, Verstappen has continued to blow away the rest of the competition. And Sky Sports F1 pundit Brundle is sure that he will not be in any way affected by all the talk around the other Red Bull seat.

“Max will lose zero seconds of sleep or waste one heartbeat thinking about it,” Brundle said. “He doesn’t care who’s in the other car really, does he? He’s on such great form.”

Verstappen hinted as much himself ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, when he almost avoided a question about whether he would help Perez to finish second in the championship if needed. “At the end of the day, I think it shouldn’t always be on me to get the points,” was his telling reply.

Christian Horner, the team principal, was happy with Perez’s performance in Brazil after he had crashed out of his home race a week earlier. After the race in Sao Paulo, he told reporters, “I thought Checo drove brilliantly well.”

“I think it’s fantastic that Checo defeated Lewis Hamilton this weekend by a score of 12 points. With the yellow flags he received in qualifying, he finished fourth on Sunday from ninth on the grid, making it a very successful weekend for him.”

Though Horner has also been very complimentary of Ricciardo: “I think Daniel has put some good engineering direction in there as well and you can see [AlphaTauri] are benefitting from that,” he said.