"If you bring Hamilton or Leclerc they're going to struggle alongside Max Verstappen," says former teammate Sergio Perez.

Returning to the grid next season with Cadillac, Perez attended the Mexico City Grand Prix at the weekend.

As he smiled, engaged with the fans and greeted former colleagues he cut an entirely different figure to the broken man we saw just a year ago, a man clearly drowning and barely able to hang on.

At Cadillac he will be partnered by another popular veteran, Valtteri Bottas, but it is the man who helped break him that Perez wants to talk about, especially at a time Red Bull is considering who will partner the Dutchman next season.

It's a difficult place," the Mexican told Sky Sports. "Being next to Max is very difficult, but being next to Max in Red Bull is something people don't understand.

"There's so many things I could tell you," he continued, "but simply it's a very difficult job for a driver.

"There is no driver that can survive there," he insisted. "It doesn't matter if you bring Hamilton or Leclerc, whoever you bring there, they're going to struggle massively.

"It's a very unique driving style," he added, "you have to constantly be adapting to the needs of Max, simple as that."

Referring to Liam Lawson, who got just two outings before being demoted again, Perez said: "I don't like criticizing the drivers that have been there because I was in that position, I know exactly what they're going through.

"The minute I signed my exit with Red Bull, when we came to an agreement, I knew that the 'poor guy that comes here', because I managed to survive for a while."