'If Horner or Marko say something, I can trust it completely'

By Motorsport.com Perez is asked if he would be open to giving up his own chances in a weekend to help Verstappen: "Well, it's obvious that Max in our team is the one who is going for the title this year. In that respect, the whole team must and will help him. At the same time, we are also fighting for the constructors' championship and of course, we have to take that into account," he stated.

Red Bull will not be sacrificing its second driver completely, as it is important that both drivers score a lot of points. After all, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas do the same for Mercedes. "So the division of roles depends a bit on what scenarios we encounter during a race weekend. In any case, the goal we have in mind is clear: take the constructors' title and indeed help Max win the drivers' championship," Perez said.

Perez confident

In late August, Red Bull announced that it would continue with Perez in 2022. He had hoped to be closer to Verstappen, but it proved sufficient for a new commitment. Did Perez have any concerns? "No. To be honest, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko spoke to me a few races before and said I shouldn't look anywhere else. They are happy with me and would like to continue. The same applies to me, so the situation was pretty clear. We have also built up a lot of mutual trust in this short time. If they say something to me, I fully believe Christian and Helmut and I can also trust them. In that respect, I have no worries about next year."

Perez currently occupies fifth place in the World Drivers' Championship. He needs to make up 23 points on Valtteri Bottas to move up to third place. He still has eight Grands Prix to do so.