Franz Tost does not believe Sergio Pérez will follow in the footsteps of either Pierre Gasly or Alexander Albon and be ‘broken’ by being team-mates with Max Verstappen.
Pérez has joined Red Bull Racing for 2021 after leaving the BWT Racing Point Formula One Team at the end of last season despite enjoying his best year in Formula 1 that included his maiden victory in the Sakhir Grand Prix.
He will go up against long-time Red Bull driver Verstappen, but Tost, the Team Principal of Red Bull’s sister team Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda, says the Mexican’s experience within Formula 1 will see him do better than either Gasly or Albon did in that second seat.
Gasly, who races for AlphaTauri after being given only twelve races with Red Bull in 2019, is ‘one of the fastest drivers’ in Formula 1 according to Tost, but he believes the Frenchman’s relative inexperience went against him during his spell with Red Bull.
“He [Gasly] had Max Verstappen as a team-mate, and Max has been killing everyone next to him, with the exception of a few,” said Tost to Motorsport Netherlands.
“If you go there as a newcomer with very high expectations, you will go under when you find a Max Verstappen by your side who has been there with four or five years of F1 experience.
“He is one of the fastest drivers on the field, and then you’ll found that the car does not behave the way you want it to.”
Tost believes that should the RB16B suit Pérez then the Mexican will bring good results to Red Bull despite having someone as strong a team-mate as Verstappen is.
“If the car suits him, Pérez will certainly ensure good results,” added Tost. “He will leave his mark and collect a lot of points, but he will not be broken by Verstappen because he knows how fast he is.
“Pérez knows that Max is going to bend him and that he has no chance.”
