Speaking exclusively to Mirror Sport, 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 ranked second on 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 now over for the season, Red Bull team principal Horner told Mirror Sport that his team’s sole focus now is on helping Perez complete a double in the standings.
“This is something we’ve never done before and it will be something that honors what we believe is our most successful car ever,” he said. “We are doing our best to support Checo and help him regain the form that we know he is capable of and that he showed earlier in the year.
“We are confident that he has can return to the form he showed with great races. , as in Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia. Not long ago, at Monza, he had a great race there and finished second… Everyone has short memories in this business and in many ways you’re only as good as his last race. “
Perez scored just five points in his last three full racing weekends in one of the toughest periods of his Red Bull career. With Hamilton closely following him, a rumor emerged this week that the team could look to replace him if he is overtaken by rivals Mercedes before the end of the year.
But when this request was put to Horner, he said the thought had never even occurred to him. “It’s not something we’ve discussed or even considered,” he replied. “Checo is our rider and we want to support him in the best way possible.
“We think he can reach second place in the championship, but he faces Tough opponents and still many races to go. We chose Checo first because of their experience and ability to handle pressure. He did a lot for us in ’21 and ’22, contributing to the Constructors’ Championship last year and this year with the wins he achieved.
“We know what he’s capable of and we haven’t seen that in the last two races. We want to support him to ensure he returns to his early season form. This is a season difficult and it is difficult to be the leader of Max’s teammate’s son – we must not forget the mental challenge.
“We know what Checo is capable of and we know that qualifying tends to be his weakness, but when racing he comes alive on a Sunday afternoon.
He’s demonstrated that time and time again. We have six one-two finishes this year, he’s won two Grands Prix and he’s still second in the world championship 30 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. It’s not all been bad!”
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