{"id":299353,"date":"2023-11-14T14:54:21","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T14:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=299353"},"modified":"2023-11-14T14:54:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T14:54:21","slug":"red-bull-told-to-replace-perez-with-hamiltons-best-ever-team-mate-bottas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/racing\/f1\/red-bull-told-to-replace-perez-with-hamiltons-best-ever-team-mate-bottas\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Bull told to replace Perez with Hamilton’s ‘best ever team-mate’ Bottas"},"content":{"rendered":"

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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 \u2018best ever team-mate\u2019.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s the sort of guy that Red Bull would hire actually because he\u2019s got a good pedigree, he\u2019s a bit quieter than Perez.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s not by no means in the same class as Max or Lewis or Charles [Leclerc], but he\u2019s not bad. Better than Perez, I think. If you\u2019re going to look at anybody, Bottas would be the guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be worth making an offer to Bottas because I can\u2019t imagine he imagines he\u2019s going to be in Audi\u2019s future, I\u2019m sure he\u2019s not. So just a nice two-year deal for Bottas would be a very good move.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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