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Max Verstappen says he relishes the idea of new teammate Sergio Perez pushing him hard next season, adding that he expects the Mexican to help Red Bull fight Mercedes – seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton agreeing that the main rivals of the Silver Arrows just got stronger.
Former Racing Point driver Perez was drafted into Red Bull next year in place of Alex Albon. According to Verstappen, who won two Grands Prix in 2020 (including the season final in Abu Dhabi), the arrival of the Mexican will propel him and the team to greater heights in 2021.
READ MORE: Why did Red Bull go for Perez – and what to do now for Albon?
“It’s always a bit difficult to fight [Mercedes] and I just hope Checo is the one, first of all, to keep the whole team moving but also to keep me on my toes, which is always nice – to have a teammate pushing you – it’s exciting, ”said Verstappen ahead of the 2020 FIA Awards Ceremony.
He explained how he expected Perez to help him and Red Bull get closer to Mercedes next season.
“I don’t think it will change anything in my performance, but it’s more that we have a second car that is able to go up there the whole race and try to put a little pressure on it” , continued Verstappen.
“Most of the time when we were competitive enough this year I was the only car trying to beat them. [Mercedes] and trying to do something different, but they can still do the right strategy… because they can cover me with just one car.
WATCH: Alex Albon’s best moves from 2020, as Horner says Red Bull thought ‘long and hard’ about replacing him
Hamilton, who won the 2020 title over teammate Valtteri Bottas with his biggest margin yet (of 124 points) agreed with Verstappen, and said he expected a new challenge from the Red Bulls next season.
“I think Max hit the nail on the head,” Hamilton began. “It’s been really, compared to Alex, in the races we’ve had, it’s me and Valtteri against Max.
“Now I’ve been in the position where Max is once… especially when I was at McLaren where I was the lead car, and the second car was not in the fight, so when we were fighting against Ferrari, they could play, they could really evolve with the strategy and make it much more difficult for us.
“So I naturally think that makes Red Bull stronger, especially with Sergio’s performance. I think it’s going to be an exciting battle watching him against Max and it’s going to make it a lot harder for us as a team, so we’re going to have to really step up our game because it’s going to be a battle. we haven’t seen in a while having the two riders there, fighting against us – but we like that as a team.
READ MORE: Wolff will continue as manager of the Mercedes team for another three years, as Ineos becomes a full third-party shareholder of the team
“This is what we are working towards; we love the challenge and that will make it even more exciting, ”concluded Hamilton.
The seven-time champion has yet to sign a new contract with Mercedes, but he seems to be very excited to tackle Red Bull in 2021 as he aims to put pen to paper in the not too distant future.
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