Speaking exclusively to Media, Christian Horner has responded to reports that Sergio Perez could be replaced by Red Bull at the end of the season if he doesn’t finish his second season. in the rankings.
Christian Horner admits he did not even consider the idea of sacking Sergio Pérez in the first place, dismissing the suggestion of giving the Mexican an “ultimatum”.
Perez has had a difficult season and is going through a particularly difficult time in recent weeks. He started the new year with two wins in the first four races, but was then completely outpaced by teammate Max Verstappen.
And the difficulties made him only 30 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the rankings despite having a much faster car. With both titles already wrapped up for the season, Red Bull team principal Horner told Mirror Sport his team’s sole focus is now on helping Perez to complete the one-two finish in the standings.
“It’s something that we’ve not achieved before and it will be something to top off what we believe has been our most successful ever car,” he said. “We’re doing our best to support Checo and help him to find the form we know he is capable of and demonstrated earlier in the year.
“We’re confident that he can rediscover the form that he showed with some fantastic races, like in Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia. Even as short ago as in Monza, he drove a great race there and finished second… people have short memories in this business and, in many respects, you’re only as good as your last race.”
Perez has scored just five points from his last three full race weekends in one of the toughest patches of his Red Bull career.
With Hamilton hot on his heels, a rumour emerged this week claiming the team could look to replace him if he is leapfrogged by his Mercedes rival before the end of the year.
But when that claim was put to Horner, he said the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. “It’s not something that we have discussed or even contemplated,” he replied. “Checo is our driver and we want to support him in the best way that we can.
“We believe that he can achieve that second place in the championship but he is up against tough competitors with a lot of racing still to go. We selected Checo in the first place because of his experience and his ability to be able to deal with pressure. He did a lot for us in ’21 and ’22, contributing to the constructors’ championship last year and this year with the victories he has achieved.
“We know what he is capable of and we haven’t seen that for the last couple of races. We want to support him to make sure he gets back to that early-season form. Being Max’s teammate is a difficult and strenuous season – we must not forget the mental challenge.
“We know what Checo is capable of and we know that qualifying tends to be his weak point, but when racing he comes alive on a Sunday afternoon. He proved that that over and over again. This year we’ve doubled six times, he’s won two Grands Prix and he’s still second in the world championship by 30 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. It’s not not bad at all!”