I think that Perez is in a win, win situation.

Mark Webber has backed Sergio Perez to succeed at Red Bull, claiming that the 31-year-old is in a “win-win situation”.

Perez put in an impressive recovery drive on his Red Bull debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix, finishing fifth after starting from the pit lane due to an issue on the formation lap.

While his race drive earned him plaudits, his failure to make Q3 was not ideal, although given it was his maiden Grand Prix weekend with the team, he has time to rectify that.

Paired with Max Verstappen, many expect Perez to be tasked with a support role for Red Bull, a role that Webber was sometimes pushed into when he drove for the team alongside Sebastian Vettel.

Discussing the Mexican’s move across to the Milton Keynes-based outfit, Webber said that he thinks Perez will perform better than Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon while paired with Verstappen.

“I think he’s gonna do well,” he told the On the Marbles podcast. “I think that he’s in a bit of a win-win situation.

“He is clearly there to do the best support role he can for Max and I think he’ll do better than the previous two guys that tried to be Max’s teammates, which is obviously Pierre and Albon.

“He is tremendously experienced and a magician with the tyres. He’s very, very handy, he knows how to bring a car home and get good podiums and he’s done that in subpar machinery. When this Red Bull fires, if this car is half sensible and we believe it looks pretty handy, there’s a great chance that he will have a solid season.”