Sergio Perez has backed Yuki Tsunoda to succeed at Red Bull, stating the Japanese driver has the “right mentality” for the team.

Tsunoda will make his Red Bull debut this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix, moving up in place of Liam Lawson who has returned to Racing Bulls.

Tsunoda will become the third driver to line-up alongside Max Verstappen in four races after Perez was dropped at the end of the 2024 campaign.

The Mexican endured a difficult final season with Red Bull last year as he struggled to extract pace from the car – a fate similar to Lawson’s at the opening two rounds of the current season.

Perez asserted he holds hope Red Bull can rectify its struggles as he maintains support for the team despite his issues in the past.

“I really want the team to do well, as I have a lot of friends at the team,” Perez told F1.com. 

“I spent four years with them and I want to see them doing well. It’s just a very hard thing to talk about.

“Right now, I’m on the outside, I’ve been in touch with some team members there – but when you’re not there internally, it’s hard to know.”

Tsunoda receives support from Perez

Tsunoda is the most experienced Red Bull junior to receive a call up to the senior team, with the promotion coming in his fifth F1 season.

The 24-year-old is being tasked with succeeding where his predecessors have failed and run as close as possible to Verstappen to bring home crucial points in the constructors’ championship.

Perez has voiced support for Tsunoda and expressed confidence he will be able to do a satisfactory job.

“For me, it was very simple, the car is just quite difficult to get 100% out of it, to get the confidence out of it – and the things I struggled with, even Adrian [Newey] talked about them,” Perez said.

“But I want to wish them the best. Woody, who is a great friend of mine, is engineering Yuki now so I really hope they do well.

“Yuki has the talent, he has the speed and more than that, you need the mentality to cope with it. 

“I think he has the right mentality and the right attitude to cope with it. I hope they will succeed.”