For the third consecutive season, Red Bull will have a different driver in their car alongside Max Verstappen at the start of the season. 

After Pierre Gasly got dropped during the summer break in 2019 and Alex Albon failed to deliver throughout 2020, Mexican Sergio Perez gets his opportunity with the Milton Keynes-based squad. 

Speaking to Straighttothegrid.com, Martin Brundle believes Perez’s maturity and experience will stand him in good stead against Verstappen, which Albon and Gasly couldn’t call upon.  

“I think that Sergio is laid back enough, he’s not going to get caught up and feel under pressure,’’ said Brundle.  

“He’s been there, seen it, done it, and then finally won it, didn’t he, last year. 

“He’s very mature, and I’m not saying the other guys were immature, but they were the new kids on the block under pressure, trying to learn their trade with an incredibly bright spotlight on Max. 

“And that proved to be an impossible hurdle to clear for some of them – many of them actually. 

“What Sergio won’t do is squirrel away. And that’s the most important thing for Red Bull.” 

Damon Hill echoed Brundle’s thoughts and is looking forward to watching Perez at his home Grand Prix in 2021.  

“I agree with Martin on Sergio, he’s battle-hardened isn’t he and I think that he’s pretty bulletproof from that point of view,’’ the 1996 World Champion said. 

“I think the pressure from some quarters in that team is tough on young guys, and you only have to have a small fishier and you go spiralling downward. 

“I don’t see that happening with Sergio. I think it’s because he knows that every day he wakes up, he seems to be thinking positive and he’s ahead of the game and the glass is half full, if not full completely. 

“I loved watching Sergio in Mexico when he dealt with the pressure of being the man in that environment. 

“He just lapped it up and he gave everything that they wanted. 

“So the Mexican Grand Prix has got to be a must, isn’t it, this year.” 

Brundle spoke about a chance meeting he had with the 31-year-old in Bahrain last year, one week before he took his sensational victory at the outer circuit. The well-respected F1 commentator believes his ‘’low-stress attitude’’ is going to benefit Checo.  

“I remember talking to him last year in Bahrain at the first race and then full track. 

“And we were looking at his tyres and he came out and was looking at his tyres as well. And we got talking. 

“He’s probably the most, I find the most approachable driver in the paddock. 

“And I said, wow, that track next week looks quite a challenge – the sort of more circular one the outer perimeter track, and he was like ‘uh, I hadn’t really looked at it yet. I don’t know. I don’t know. Yeah. Maybe if you tell me’. 

“Anyway, he went on to win that race and on the second track in Bahrain, because you know, he just aced it and what he clearly was doing was wasting nil energy or mental thought process or heartbeats on the race the following weekend, he just focused on the first race. 

“I think that kind of attitude, that kind of low-stress attitude will serve him very well.” 

Perez’s strong point throughout his time in Formula One has been his performances on a Sunday afternoon. While he’s yet to qualify on the front row of the grid for a race, he’s finished on the podium times, culminating in that win at the Sakhir Grand Prix last December. 

Brundle expects the 31-year-old to do his best work on Sunday afternoons as he aims to help Verstappen fight the Mercedes’. 

‘’I think Sergio is the man for the end of Sunday, not the end of Saturday. 

“I don’t think he’ll need to qualify or even be that, you know, incredibly close to Max, because what Red Bull needs is for him to be on the second row of the grid at worst, and then five, no more than five seconds behind Max. 

“So they need the ammunition for the strategy, and that’s what Sergio is going to do. 

“And then I think there’ll be days when Sergio uses his experience, keeps tyres intact, and will actually be the fastest man at the end of the race from time to time. 

“So that’s the job I think he’ll do.”