Sergio Perez's former F1 boss tells Christian Horner who to replace him with

Sergio Perez's former boss Otmar Szafnauer has urged Red Bull to hand the Mexican a new deal.

Perez's contract expires at the end of this season and Christian Horner will be considering his options. The 34-year-old has begun the campaign well with more consistent results, but there remain questions over whether he is the best partner for Max Verstappen going forward.

Speaking to select media, including Mirror Sport, as he promoted his new app EventR, Szafnauer expressed his belief that Perez remains the best choice for Red Bull.

The American, who was Perez's boss at Racing Point, said: "I was in Abu Dhabi two days ago doing this F1 thing and I was asked, 'If you were Christian Horner, who would you replace Checo with?'

"And, knowing Checo as well as I do, I said, 'I would replace Checo with Checo'. If I were Christian, I would still keep him for next year. Let's not forget, in the first year [2021] Max won [the title] partly because of Checo and partly because of the circumstances.

"But there are races that got [Verstappen] to that win and that was when Checo got the nickname in Mexico as the 'Minister of Defence'. He did that. Yeah, he's had some lows, but this year from what I can see, apart from a couple of races where I think he should have finished a bit higher, I think he's doing it."

Perez's main weakness during a particularly patchy 2023 season was qualifying. Despite having the fastest car on the grid, he failed to reach Q3 on nine occasions.

Szafnauer admitted that Saturdays have always been the Mexican's Achilles heel - but feels the Red Bull racer's greatest strength more than makes up for it. The American added: "Checo's strength has always been racecraft - he's never been a great qualifier.

"There wasn't many times that I could count when he worked for me where I thought, 'Why would you do that?' during a race. There's only one time I can remember, but the rest of the time he is very good at overtaking without making mistakes. He's really, really good at it.

"When he was with [Nico] Hulkenberg [at Force India], Hulk would always get him over a lap, but by the end of the race, because Checo could manage his tyres, Checo would get him. He beat Hulkenberg in the championship that year, mainly because of his ability to manage the tyres. Twelve laps in, Hulkenberg would be on the radio, 'My rear tyres are gone!' But Checo, never."