Red Bull told to replace Perez with Hamilton’s ‘best ever team-mate’ Bottas
Iconic F1 pundit Peter Windsor has urged Red Bull to call upon the services of former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas to replace Sergio Perez. The Finnish driver has previously been described by Lewis Hamilton as his ‘best ever team-mate’.
Perez came out of the blocks flying in 2023, taking two wins from the opening four races, but his form since then has nosedived with the Mexican driver now sitting a concerning 266 points behind team-mate Max Verstappen at the top of the standings.
This concerning performance level has led to conversations about the viability of keeping Checo in the second Red Bull seat next season. These rumours have been exacerbated by the resurgence of McLaren with Lando Norris now regularly pushing Verstappen in the fight for race wins. If this intensifies into 2024 then the 33-year-old will quickly become a liability.
Discussing potential replacements for Checo on a YouTube Livestream, Windsor explained: “Valtteri Bottas would be another guy who I think would do a good job in that second Red Bull. He’s the sort of guy that Red Bull would hire actually because he’s got a good pedigree, he’s a bit quieter than Perez.
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“He’s not by no means in the same class as Max or Lewis or Charles [Leclerc], but he’s not bad. Better than Perez, I think. If you’re going to look at anybody, Bottas would be the guy.
“It would be worth making an offer to Bottas because I can’t imagine he imagines he’s going to be in Audi’s future, I’m sure he’s not. So just a nice two-year deal for Bottas would be a very good move.”
Bottas comes with high praise from Hamilton after the pair spent five seasons together at Mercedes between 2017 and 2021. Called upon on short notice after the shock retirement of Nico Rosberg, the Finnish driver stepped up well and played the wing-man role perfectly as Hamilton flexed his muscles and added four more World Championships to his collection.
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Posting a tribute to his former team-mate after his switch to Alfa Romeo was confirmed for the 2022 season, Hamilton said: “He has been the best teammate I’ve had the pleasure of working with.
“Your speed and resilience has been impressive but where you truly stand out to me is the human being you are and gentleman. You are greater than you know and I know there’s a bright future ahead for you.”
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