Christian Horner identifies the main difference between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.

There has been a massive gulf in performance levels between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at Red Bull this season.

Christian Horner thinks Sergio Perez’s mindset is the primary obstacle preventing him from defeating Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen this season. Before this weekend’s home race, the Mexican driver is facing more and more pressure.

With four races remaining in the season, Verstappen leads the 33-year-old by 226 points, setting a new record for the gap between the top two contenders in a World Championship battle.

Checo clinched two wins in the opening four races this season but was soon overpowered by his now-three-time world champion team-mate. After 18 races, Verstappen has 15 wins and 18 podium finishes to his name, while the Mexican is yet to add to his wins in Jeddah and Baku.

Speaking about the distinctions between his two drivers, Horner stated: “I think it’s a huge element and mental strength always plays a key role with any sportsman that.” And I believe there was a turning point this year, most likely in Miami when Checo had an open goal.

He had won two races in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, and his confidence was evident. I believe that Max’s victory in that race, combined with the fact that he was caught off guard by a red flag during qualifying and that he moved up to the lead on whatever lap it was, was mentally quite difficult for Checo to handle.

And Monaco followed, I believe the very next race, on top of that. After that, things get worse. And Max is just unrelenting; from that point on, he just wins every race.

Since the summer break, Perez’s form has not fully recovered, and speculation has been rampant about his short-term future with Red Bull. Even though he has a contract with the team through the end of 2024, there have been rumors that he might leave before the team achieves its first-ever one-two finish in the World Championship.

While the existence of such an ultimatum has been denied by the Red Bull hierarchy, if Perez is under pressure to deliver a second-place finish then he was helped greatly by Lewis Hamilton’s misfortune at the previous two rounds in Qatar and Texas. The gap between the pair has now widened to 39 points.