Max Verstappen has to share the blame for Sergio Perez’s struggles at Red Bull during the F1 2024 season.

That is the opinion of former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan, who has claimed Verstappen “put pressure” on Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to keep Perez rather than pursue a deal for outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.

Did Max Verstappen apply pressure on Red Bull to keep Sergio Perez?

Additional rpeorting by Thomas Maher

PlanetF1.com revealed ahead of last week’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that Perez is set to be dropped by Red Bull for the F1 2025 season after a disastrous 2024 campaign.

The Mexican driver finished seven places and a massive 285 points behind Verstappen in the Drivers’ standings, having failed to record a podium finish since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.

Although Verstappen managed to seal a fourth straight Drivers’ crown in F1 2024, Perez’s lack of contribution saw Red Bull slip to a disappointing third in the Constructors’ Championship as McLaren secured their first teams’ title in 26 years.

Perez, who signed a new two-year contract as recently as June, is expected to vacate his Red Bull seat ahead of next season, with Racing Bulls star Liam Lawson likely to be promoted as his replacement.

Red Bull’s decision to tie Perez to a new deal last summer came despite the availability of Sainz, who was informed last winter that he would be released by Ferrari at the end of F1 2024 to make way for seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Sainz, who graduated from Red Bull’s famed driver academy and acted as Verstappen’s team-mate during their debut season with Racing Bulls (then Toro Rosso) in 2015, struggled to force his way into the plans of F1’s top teams before signing a multi-year contract with Williams in July.

Appearing on the Formula For Success podcast, Jordan claimed that Verstappen applied pressure on Red Bull’s management to retain Perez rather than make a move to Sainz.

He said: “I’m embarrassed for Checo, because I like the guy. He’s a smashing person to be with.

“But are you telling me he’s angling and fighting for a place in the team for next year? I would say that it’s not a chance, but I put some blame on the team and I put some blame on Max.

“I know that Max put pressure on Christian. He did not want Carlos Sainz in the car. He wanted Checo in the car, because he knew he could beat him.

“And to be fair, Max has to just think about that a little bit. Christian has to think about that.

“They will deny it, but it’s just my belief that there was a situation where it was easier to keep Checo in the car rather than consider a position where it might be better for the team where they would get a Constructors’ title next year.”

Jordan’s comments come after Verstappen voiced his support for Perez during the Abu Dhabi GP weekend, claiming his team-mate has been subjected to “very harsh” criticism throughout F1 2024.

On the subject of Perez’s future, Verstappen told media including PlanetF1.com: “This is up to the team.

“I always worked really well with Checo. He’s a great guy, honestly. It’s very rare that you have a team-mate like him who has always been very good and just a nice guy to us.

“I work with him every weekend, week in, week out. I find people have been very harsh on him.

“Of course, some weekends maybe could have been better, but sometimes people have been very harsh on him because he’s not an idiot.

“He’s always been regarded as a great driver and it’s been tough, but it’s been tough for everyone in the team because sometimes it was just very difficult to drive.”

Verstappen’s relationship with Sainz at Toro Rosso has been the subject of much intrigue over the years, with Red Bull widely thought to be wary of reuniting the pair following inter-team tensions across 2015/16.

A book released last year shed light on the root of the tensions between the drivers, with Verstappen and his engineers granted “cart blanche” to make their own strategic decisions by Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko – even if it meant ignoring the instructions of the Toro Rosso management.

The situation came to a head at the 2016 Russian Grand Prix, Verstappen’s final race for Toro Rosso before his promotion to Red Bull, where he returned to the track in qualifying before Sainz in a breach of a pre-arranged team agreement.

While Verstappen qualified inside the top 10, Sainz was eliminated in Q2 after encountering traffic during his final run.

The ensuing row with then-team principal Franz Tost resulted in a number of people on Verstappen’s side of the garage, including race engineer Xevi Pujolar, leaving the team.

Marko is said to have then played an instrumental role in Pujolar securing a new role at Sauber, where he continues to work as racing director.