Sergio Perez deserves to keep his seat at Red Bull but Christian Horner's comments about Alex Albon at the Canadian Grand Prix were "interesting", Ted Kravitz has told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

Perez endured another difficult weekend as he finished sixth in Montreal, while Max Verstappen led every lap on his way to victory for a third consecutive race.

The Mexican was just six points behind Verstappen four races ago ahead of the Miami Grand Prix but is now 69 points adrift of the his team-mate.

Alex Albon finished one place behind Perez and continues to impress at Williams following his return to F1 at the start of 2022.

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Albon lost his Red Bull seat to Perez at the end of 2020 and was praised by team principal Christian Horner, who admitted he watched as much of the Williams driver's race than his own drivers.

Asked on the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 Podcast whether Perez deserves to stay at Red Bull, Kravitz said: "Yes. Although Christian Horner was quick to praise Alex Albon wasn't he. I thought that was interesting.

"Alex Albon has now severed all of his ties with Red Bull, he doesn't even have it on the side of his helmet anymore.

"He still has the links with the Yoovidhya family, who are 51 per cent owners of Red Bull. There is a couple of sponsors that he has which are linked to the Yoovidhya family and their other brands that they have in Thailand.

"But Alex is not in the Red Bull camp anymore and Alex Albon finishing seventh in a Williams, even though it was 20 seconds behind, although yes Perez made an extra pit stop, but still behind Perez in a Red Bull in sixth, that wasn't lost on anybody including Horner."

Alex Albon gave Williams their best result for two years with seventh place in Montreal

F1 journalist Claire Cottingham added: "Does he deserve that seat? Of course he deserves that seat. He fought hard for that seat and he is a good driver. Let's not forget he's a good driver. He's just not as good as his team-mate and nobody wants that.

"It's like that Lewis Hamilton next to Valtteri Bottas. Bottas isn't a bad driver but he just would never be able to match what Lewis could do in that car.

"But he [Perez] definitely deserves a seat. It's a funny one isn't it that second seat next to Max because it's such a revolving door."

Could anyone replace Perez at Red Bull?

Perez helped Verstappen to his first world title with notable performances at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, by holding off Lewis Hamilton, and in the middle of the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

He won two races last year with Red Bull on his way to third in the championship and made an early title challenge this season, before a 16th, fourth and sixth in the last three races put a dent in any hopes he had against Verstappen over 23 events.

Daniel Ricciardo is Red Bull's official reserve driver and Kravitz thinks the Australian would be the driver to choose if Red Bull were to replace Perez, who is contracted to be with the Milton Kenyes team until the end of 2024.

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"Are they really going to get Albon back? Ricciardo is the obvious one if you're not ready to promote Liam Lawson, who's next in the Red Bull staircase of talent, and they don't think Yuki Tsunoda or Nyck de Vries are quite right for Red Bull Racing, which Helmut Mark and Christian Horner have pretty much made clear, then give Ricciardo a go," said Kravitz.

Cottingham added: "Sergio has a contract until 2024, so in theory, they are not going to look at anyone else. He is doing the number two driver thing, he's just not performing at the level they want him to be performing at.

"With the harmony in the team, it's very different. Checo is quite a fiery character but how long is he going to keep his cool about his performance at the moment?

Sergio Perez is only nine points ahead of Fernando Alonso in the drivers' championship

"I think for them [Red Bull] they are quite lucky because it seems to be something to do with his confidence and his driving, rather than the team making choices that's frustrating him, that we've seen in the past. They would probably be quite foolish to look elsewhere when they've got such a solid driver in Perez."

Listen to the full podcast to hear Kravitz and Cottingham give their reflections on Red Bull's 100th F1 win and whether Lando Norris was unsportsmanlike in Montreal.

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Red Bull seek to continue their winning run in 2023 as they return to their home track for the Austrian GP - watch live on Sky Sports F1 from June 30-July 2. Get Sky Sports