Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has backed Sergio Perez to finish second in the Drivers’ Championship, which would give Red Bull its first double in the standings.
The Mexican driver struggled to keep up with his supreme teammate Max Verstappen throughout the season and took just two race wins in what is considered one of the sport’s most dominant cars ever. see.
Meanwhile, Verstappen has won 13 races and is aiming for his third consecutive world championship title.
Perez is 177 points behind the Dutchman but has so far held off Lewis Hamilton’s challenge for third place. His contract is up for renewal at the end of next season and if there is a chance of a future extension, he must prove that he can regularly beat everyone other than Verstappen.
Horner agrees that this is important, especially because this is the first time in Red Bull’s history that their drivers are first and second in the driver standings.
Horner told Sky Sports: “He at least has some kind of ‘cushion’ for the race weekend for Lewis and even more so for Fernando [Alonso] behind him.
“That’s something we’ve never achieved; we have never finished in first or second place with any of our riders in the world championship, so this will be a big thing for us to achieve.
He came close last year, which would have been his best ever result and he has the best car he’s ever had to be able to try and get that result. »
Enough race left
With the pressure of the world championship eased (as Verstappen will likely win in Qatar next time), Perez now hopes he can add six more wins to his career. His race in Japan was certainly a forgettable one, as he collided with Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen, received a five-second penalty and ultimately had to abandon his car from the race twice in a strange turn of events.
Japan has been frustrating and difficult for him, but he will bounce back,” Horner continued.
“I am sure he has enough races left with six Grands Prix remaining to achieve excellent results at the end of the season.”