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Former German F1 driver Ralf Schumacher feels that Max Verstappen would prefer Daniel Ricciardo as his teammate as compared to Sergio Perez. As quoted by Motorsport-total.com, Michael Schumacher's younger brother expressed doubt over Perez being Verstappen's teammate next season. Ralf said:
"Not 100 percent sure that Perez will still be the team-mate next year. I think Ricciardo has a good chance. Behind the scenes, it must be very, very aggressive and I think Max wants a new combination. Max is now the spearhead of Red Bull."
He continued:
"The whole future is set up for him until 2028. At the end of the day, he pulls the coals out of the fire, brings home the victories. Accordingly, I could imagine his contract also gives him the opportunity to have a say in who drives next to him. And I think he prefers Ricciardo."
Max Verstappen had earlier in the weekend clarified what had happened at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver revealed that there had also been some private discussion between the two drivers over something that had happened earlier in the season. Max Verstappen said:
"It was about something that happened earlier in the season and I already explained that [to Red Bull] in Mexico. The team understood and agreed. We went to Brazil and I just thought: ‘We’re just going to race, try to get the best possible result’. And we had a bit of a miscommunication on the Saturday and Sunday - nothing had been said to me about a potential swap."
The Dutchman further said:
"It only came into that last lap that it was said on the radio. They should’ve known my response already from what I said the week before. After that race [in Brazil], we had some good discussions - we put everything on the table and everything has been solved."
Max Verstappen was only informed on the last corner of the last lap: Red Bull
In a statement issued by Red Bull earlier in the weekend, the Austrian team clarified that Max Verstappen was only informed about swapping positions with Sergio Perez on the last corner and hence did not have enough time to do so. The statement read as:
"As a team, we made some mistakes in Brazil. We had not envisaged the situation that unfolded on the last lap, and we had not agreed a strategy for such a scenario before the race. Regretfully, Max was only informed at the final corner of the request to give up position without all the necessary information being relayed. This put Max, who has always been an open and fair team player, in a compromising situation with little time to react which was not our intention."
Daniel Ricciardo will be announced as the reserve driver at Red Bull for the 2023 Formula 1 season. Does it mean a possible seat alongside Max Verstappen in the future? It's hard to say yes, but it will definitely be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
