Former McLaren driver and 13-time F1 Grand Prix winner David Coulthard thinks that Sergio Perez is one of the best drivers on the current grid and offers exactly what the Red Bull team needs. Red Bull have arguably one of the strongest lineups on the current F1 grid. In Perez the team have recruited a driver who is excellent at maintaining his tyres and has consistently shown strong race pace. Scotsman Coulthard concurs. "Checo is experienced, a pair of safe hands you trust a car to," Coulthard told Ziggo Sport. "He is the right person for Red Bull, because with all due respect to Albon, he was not mature enough to deal with the 'Max factor'. "Checo, on the other hand, came back great after the car stalled (on the warm-up lap) and then without communicating with the team he got the car running on his own and still drove to fifth place. That's the kind of performance that earns a team the constructors' title. "Sergio Perez is mature enough to know that only a few people can beat him, apart from Verstappen himself." Coulthard also elaborated on why it will take the one-time race winner time to get accustomed to his Red Bull racecar. "Perez knew every intimate detail of the Racing Point, but now it's like getting to know his new girlfriend," Coulthard stated. "He needs to know blindly where all the buttons are to really know what he's working with. Give him six months, but I think he will be a great teammate for Max." The former F1 star also highlighted how Red Bull will need to support their new recruit, something that the team hasn't done fully with previous incumbents. "It's not the chassis, the engine or the mechanics that make the difference, that's always fair," Coulthard explained. "Emotional support, that makes the difference. Because then the mind controls the body and not the other way around."
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