By signing Sergio Perez last year, Red Bull broke their long-standing tradition of recruiting from their drivers’ academy. In a recent interview, Franz Tost, AlphaTauri team boss, gave his views on Milton Keynes’s decision of signing Checo.

Red Bull ran through three drivers in three years to find someone who could keep up to Max Verstappen and help the team climb the championship standing. However, all three drivers from their academy failed to live up to the expectations.

Tost defended the academy and explained the team’s decision to sign the Mexican. “I think we have chosen good drivers. If you just look at Carlos Sainz, who now drives for Ferrari. Or Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren.”

“Pierre Gasly also won a race. In the end, it was a decision made by Red Bull. Pérez is an experienced pilot who knows what is in store for him at Verstappen’s side. So maybe he will handle the situation a little better,” he said.

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Tost answers whether his team met Red Bull expectations

AlphaTauri is the sister team of Red Bull Racing. The team rebranded themselves last season and also claimed the race win in their first season under the new name.

Explaining whether the Italian team met their goals last year, Tost said, “Not as far as the placement in the team ranking is concerned. The score was okay. The win was of course also good and important. Unfortunately we screwed up some races due to mistakes.”

Red Bull hope that the Mexican will soon be able to close the gap with Max Verstappen. Hopefully, the Milton Keynes team’s driver lineup this season will allow them to put a lot more pressure on Mercedes and hinder their incredible run this era.

Do you think Sergio Perez will prove himself and warrant his Red Bull position this season?