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Red Bull boss Christian Horner hinted some frustration with Sergio Perez, saying he needs more from the Mexican driver.
Horner has openly defended Perez’s performances in the past, wanting people to back their drivers. The Red Bull boss had defended the Mexican on several occasions – even when the Red Bull driver was knocked out in Q1 several times.
However, Horner showed some hints of frustration towards the Mexican last weekend in Spielberg. The gap in performance between Perez and his teammate Verstappen had gotten too obvious.
Verstappen suffered a rear-wheel puncture after a collision with Lando Norris at Turn Three. This forced the Dutchman to slowly driver back to thepits for half a lap with a puncture and pit for fresh tyres. The Red Bull driver was also handed a 10-second time penalty for the collision.
Despite this, Perez still finished 17.4 seconds behind Verstappen and finsihed seventh behind Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg. However, Perez defended himself claiming he picked up sidepod damage after a lap one clash with Oscar Piastri.
Running out of excuses
There is no denying that Perez was, once again, way off from competing at the front. The Mexican is needed more than ever as rival teams have closed the gap to Red Bull at the top significantly.
Despite Perez’s excuse on Sunday, it was actually Saturday that made Horner suggest that the team needs to deep further to find Perez’s issues.
“We’re doing our best to find out what is missing, because the first four or five races were very competitive and whatever has happened to cause him to drop off,” Horner told Sky F1.
“In Suzuka, one of the toughest tracks in the world and a real driver’s circuit, he was a tenth of a second off Max. Here with nine corners the gap is significantly greater. So, we just need to get to the bottom of it and help him recover.”
Importance of second driver now showing
Red Bull could get away with Perez not performing during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The Austrian team was dominant, leaving no other teams to potentially challenge them. However, 2024 is a different story.
McLaren have taken a big step forward this year, becoming race-winning contenders. The rivalry of Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris has heated up.
The threat from the opposition changes the dynamics of the grid positions between the two Red Bull drivers. Before, a few tenths gap would not have as much of a gap between the pair. However, now even one tenth can separate the cars significantly.
Perez is needed further up the grid to help Verstappen in terms of strategy. Teams like McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes can two versus one Verstappen on strategy, making it harder for Red Bull, especially when Perez gets knocked out in Q1.
The constructors’ championship is now getting closer with rival teams. Based on the last five races, Red Bull is the third best team with 116 points, whilst Mercedes have 132 and McLaren have 144.
Perez signed a new deal with Red Bull this season, keeping him with the team until the end of 2026, despite his clear struggles. Red Bull thought that having security with the team would lift pressure off Perez and lead to better performances.
However, the opposite has happened, leading to questions whether Red Bull committed too early into giving the Mexican a new contract. Horner gave an interesting response:
“I think that Checo’s position within the team and what he has contributed to the team has warranted that [new contract] but of course there is always pressure to perform – and that is irrelevant of contracts which we are obviously never going to go into the detail of.”
At the moment, Perez is fifth with 118 points in the drivers’ championship. This makes the Mexican 119 points off his teammate Verstappen at the top after 11 rounds.
Feature Image Credit: Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images