Verstappen called Perez "defense minister"

After Abu Dhabi's tenacious defense of Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen referred to his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez as "defence minister".

In the 2021 season finale, Perez successfully defended Hamilton, and during that time, Verstappen was able to close the gap with Hamilton at a speed of 6 seconds per lap.

Recalling Perez's defensive performances, Verstappen said: "He's now defence minister. ”

While discussing Perez's victory in Azerbaijan, team leader Christian Horner doubled his praise for the Mexican.

Horner said: "I think he's a great team-mate this year, the atmosphere between you guys is fantastic, he's saying you owe him a beer..."

Verstappen said, "Oh, I'll give him a lot of beer, it will be." ”

Perez also took the podium in the home match in Mexico, and his father's ecstatic celebration was one of the highlights that fans could see that weekend.

Verstappen and Horner reminisced about how enthusiastic Mexican home fans were for their drivers, and the P3 results were a joy for everyone as he became the first Mexican to reach the podium in a home race.

Verstappen said: "When we got there, the fans were already very crazy, of course, they were all fans of Checo cars, but now Checo is in the team, so they are also red bull fans. I'm really happy to win the race there, but I'm also very happy to see Ceco on the podium in his hometown. ”

Perez himself admits he needs to improve his level of racing and be more stable in 2022, but Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko believes the decision to sign Perez for the team was the right one because he performed well with Verstappen.