Will Perez get a shot at F1 redemption? Former boss comes in his defense!

Szafnauer worked with Perez at Force India and Racing Point and has since kept a friendly relationship with the now former driver. After being forced to leave Red Bull Racing, Perez is currently unemployed at home, though this may not signal a definitive farewell to the sport. Szafnauer believes, as he told Formula.hu, that Perez deserves a place in F1.

“If you ask me, yes, he's good enough for it," believes the American. "When he drove for me, he had everything: the fighting spirit, the talent and the skills. I think he had that at Red Bull too."

However, at Red Bull, especially in his final season, he struggled to impress. While Verstappen secured the world championship, Perez often fell short of reaching the podium. Considering that Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda also failed to live up to the level required to be Verstappen’s teammate, one could argue that Perez’s performance wasn’t that bad after all.

"Towards the end, he lost ground, but one must not forget that he was up against Max Verstappen," says Szafnauer, who wants to point out that it's hard to compete with the Dutchman.

About Perez, the former team boss says: "He is an exceptional driver who rarely makes mistakes and has a great sense for tyre management. I think those are his strong suits. Does he have weaknesses? Well, I don't know, I wasn't there at Red Bull, but he was definitely very good with us."