F1 News: Red Bull Chief Reveals Failed Sergio Perez Hope

Red Bull team chief Christian Horner has candidly discussed the recent struggles and contract situation of driver Sergio Perez, in a revealing interview with Sky Sports F1.

Perez's performance throughout the current season has been notably inconsistent. After a promising start with competitive scores in the first five races, his subsequent performances marked a significant decline, amassing only 11 points in the last four races. Horner expressed concern about the drop in Perez’s form, emphasizing the need for Perez to provide substantial support for his teammate Max Verstappen as they face off against improving teams like McLaren.

Despite these struggles, Horner praised the Mexican driver's resilience and work ethic. Whilst speaking with Sky Sports F1 during the first day of the British Grand Prix weekend, Horner commented:

"Obviously, Sergio has had a tough spell. His first five races were very competitive.

"The last five have been nowhere, and we want to see the Sergio from the first five back. He knows that, he's aware of that, he's been working hard in the sim this week, working hard to understand where it's just not playing out for him.

"But what we've constantly seen with him is this resilience to be able to bounce back. We're hoping to see that very soon."

The timing and rationale behind Perez’s recent contract extension—a 1+1 deal with Red Bull—have sparked discussion. This decision was made during Perez’s challenging phase, drawing curious inquiries about its timing. In response to a question from Martin Brundle about whether it was premature to extend the contract, Horner defended the decision with reference to the confidential nature of such agreements:

"That's a brutally hard question, Martin.

"But, of course, the point that you sign a driver, the contents of any agreement are not going to be disclosed to all of you lot.

"So it made absolute sense to sign Checo at that point in time. But this is a business in which there are pressures to deliver.

"We thought the contract would help," added the Red Bull boss. "I think it's something that Checo is working very hard on, and he knows this is a sport where there's no hiding.

"Particularly with Max Verstappen as your team-mate. He knows he's being measured against the very best, and we need him up there supporting Max, because there's two McLarens now, there's two Ferraris, there's two Mercedes and we need there to be desperately two Red Bulls.”