Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner fully supports Sergio Perez, even though the Mexican driver continues to struggle in the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Despite Perez’s dip in form, Horner dismissed suggestions that Red Bull would replace him with Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda, stressing that the team continued to believe in the Mexican’s ability to deliver results.
Max Verstappen has almost single-handedly led Red Bull’s charge as Perez has struggled to get to grips with the car. With rival teams such as Mercedes closing the gap, Perez’s recent performance has come under scrutiny, having scored just 28 points in the last eight races. However, Horner is confident Perez can bounce back.
In his speech on the first day of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, Horner addressed the speculation about Perez’s future in the team.
“We have the best two drivers in this car and if we felt there was anything better we would have changed it by now,” said a defiant Horner. “We believe our car can defend the championship. Last year it finished first and second in the championship, the year before that it finished first and third and it won in 2021 too.”
Horner acknowledged that Perez is under enormous pressure, particularly due to media scrutiny and criticism on social media, but stressed that Red Bull is doing everything possible to support him.
He added: “We are trying our best to give Sergio a chance to find his form again. He has to deal with the pressure and the media and the social media flood that comes with it. He is a rider who is capable of getting back on his feet and we give him our full support. We want to see how he reacts.”
Horner: We know there are tracks where Checo has won.
When asked why Red Bull had not yet made a change, Horner objected to the idea of replacing Pérez: “Well, who would you use? Who would you replace him with?”
“We know what Checo is capable of. At the start of the year he was on the podium four times in five races. I think he just lacks confidence and has gone into a bit of a downward spiral. I think he has hopefully refocused a bit over the summer break.”
Horner also pointed to Perez’s successes on upcoming tracks and suggested that the driver could soon return to his old form.
“We know there are tracks where he has already won next season,” he stressed. “For example, there is Azerbaijan, where he won both a sprint and a Grand Prix on the same weekend. In Singapore he won a fantastic race against Charles Leclerc in mixed conditions. In Monza he was very fast. Zandvoort was not his best track, so I would say that of the four races before the next mini-break, this is his most challenging.”
Asked if it was crucial to keep Perez until after the Mexican’s home race at the end of October, Horner was unequivocal: “No. Absolutely not. It’s all about performance. We have the two drivers in our driver pool who we believe are best able to give us the best results. If there was any doubt about that, we would have changed it.”
As the season progresses, all eyes will be on Perez to see if he can recapture the form that made him a key part of Red Bull’s championship-winning campaigns. At Zandvoort, Verstappen ended the day on Friday with the fifth-best time, with Perez finishing P12, six tenths behind his RBR teammate.
