Christian Horner has strongly defended Red Bull’s decision to keep Sergio Perez for the remainder of the 2024 Formula 1 season, stressing that the team has “the two best drivers” for the current car.
Although his teammate Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ championship and Horner admitted that Pérez had been in a “downward spiral” given his recent difficulties, the team stood by the Mexican and supported him during the summer break.
Perez should have shown his old self in the two key races in Hungary and Belgium, but another crash in qualifying in Budapest ruined what had been a more promising weekend and forced him from 16th to 7th in another comeback race.
In a wet qualifying session at Spa, Perez did well to take third place in Q3, which meant second place on the grid following a penalty for Verstappen. But Perez was one of the drivers the Dutchman overtook on his way to fifth place, and he ended up in a disappointing eighth place. The pair each moved up a place when George Russell was disqualified from the win for driving a car that was too light.
At the Dutch Grand Prix, where Perez is back in action for the first time since the decision not to replace him, Horner delivered an impassioned explanation of why they are sticking with the beleaguered driver.
When asked by Sky Sports why Perez had been given more time, Horner replied: “Who would you swap it for? Why would you swap it?”
“I think we know what Checo is capable of. We know he was on the podium four times in five races at the start of the year. And if we can get him back on form… I think he just lacked confidence and went into a bit of a downward spiral.
Christian Horner, team boss, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“We have the two best drivers that we think can compete in this car, so we have all the data from all the drivers. So we have that information and if we felt there was something better, we would have changed it by now.”
“We believe that with our performances we can defend the title. Last year they finished first and second in the championship. The year before they finished first and third. And of course they won in 2017 too.”
Perez again struggled with speed at Zandvoort, finishing 12th in rain-affected FP1. He remained in that position after FP2, where he also slid into the gravel a few times.
However, Horner believes that there are a number of races after the Netherlands where Perez has the best chance of finding his form again.
“I think he’s rejuvenated a bit,” he explained. “Hopefully we’ll come back in the summer break. We know there are tracks where he’s won. We have Azerbaijan where he won both a sprint race and a Grand Prix on the same weekend.”
“He won another fantastic race against Charles Leclerc in mixed conditions in Singapore. He was very fast in Monza.”
“Zandvoort was not exactly his best race track. Of the four races before the next mini-break, I would say this is the most demanding for him.”
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
The Mexican GP will take place on October 25, where Perez will be cheered on by a partisan crowd in front of a number of Mexican sponsors who have brought his presence to Red Bull.
Horner, however, said that Perez’s retention had nothing to do with the fact that the race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was still to come.
“No, no. It’s all about performance,” he said. “So we have the two drivers in our driver pool that we believe are best able to give us the best results. If there had been any doubt about that, we would have changed it.”
“It’s a pressure business and all drivers know that they are under pressure to perform. And that’s how Formula 1 is, that applies to all drivers. So Checo. We know what he’s capable of.”
“When he performs, we know what he can do. We just need to get him back into that window and we’ll do our best to give him the car that gives him that confidence.
“Sergio is very quick to judge him. We are doing our best to give him a chance to get back to his old form. And he has to deal with all the pressure from the media and all the social media that amplifies that.”
“He is a rider who is capable of getting back on his feet. We are giving him our full support and are excited to see how he responds.”
After failing to break into the top 10 on a difficult Friday, Horner will no doubt demand more from Perez as the race weekend heats up.
