Red Bull note Verstappen could have a new teammate in the Battle of Hamilton | F1 | Sports

Red Bull agent Helmut Marko has suggested that Max Verstappen could have a new teammate for his fascinating fight against Lewis Hamilton in 2022. However, the chief driver admitted that no call would be made until the F1 summer break.

Sergio Perez was featured as Verstappen’s team-mate for the 2021 season, and the Mexican most recently delivered a solid p4 at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Perez, nicknamed “Checo”, has helped Red Bull take a narrow lead over Mercedes in the F1 Constructors standings as the battle for the title between Verstappen and Hamilton intensifies.

While Perez has proven himself to be a specialist in race days, there are concerns about his form in qualifying and whether he is the ideal partner for Verstappen.

“Let’s start with the positive, that’s his performance in the race,” said Marko to Formel1.de.

“They are very good, sometimes he is on the same level as Max [Verstappen].

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“We won’t think about it until summer at the earliest,” he added.

“We are a very sought-after partner in the driver market.

“We are now fully focused on the World Cup and see no problem with who Max’s team-mate will be next year. It will definitely be a competitive driver, but we have time. “

Gasly was downgraded to AlphaTauri in 2019 but has since shown Red Bull what they missed and sealed his own race win at the Italian Grand Prix last September.

The Frenchman has a difficult relationship with Red Bull after losing his seat but remains in his program and very much in his plans for the future.

“If I’m right, Gasly’s contract will run for another two years,” said Marko.

“It’s a contract that allows us to place him with both Red Bull and AlphaTauri.

“The same applies here, however – we are not yet thinking about our drivers for 2022. We will do that during the summer break and then make our decisions.”