Christian Horner: Sergio Perez’s ‘terrible season’ admission ‘sums it up perfectly’
Christian Horner has revealed how he and Sergio Perez had a proper heart-to-heart about the Mexican's performances recently.
Sergio Perez’s admission that he’s had a “terrible season” met with agreement by Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.
Ahead of his home race in Mexico City this weekend, home hero Sergio Perez assessed his season as “terrible” as his struggle for form continues, and his team boss Christian Horner didn’t rush to disagree with him.
Christian Horner: It’s been a bad year for Sergio Perez
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock
Scoring 85 points from the first five Grand Prix weekends to place himself in second place in the Drivers’ Championship, Perez’s form dipped significantly once Formula 1 returned to Europe.
The Mexican driver has added just 65 points to his tally in the 14 race weekends since, and has slipped to eighth place – he is the bottom driver out of the usual top-four teams and, at one point, had even been outscored by Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg over the most recent five Grands Prix.
Perez’s form wasn’t helped by Red Bull’s own dip in performance as the development direction of the RB20 went awry, as proven by Max Verstappen’s quest to return to the top step of the podium since his last win in June’s Spanish Grand Prix, but he briefly showed form by challenging for the win in Azerbaijan.
Perez’s poor performance has resulted in the team dropping behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship, and he admitted that it’s been a bad season for him.
“Yeah, definitely, I know I’ve had a terrible season, a very difficult one,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com, in the press conference ahead of his home race at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
“It started really well, but, yeah, it’s been really, really difficult.”
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was asked to comment on Perez’s assessment during Friday’s FIA press conference, where he agreed with his driver’s verdict.
“I think he’s summed it up perfectly,” he said.
“It’s been a bad year for Checo [Perez] – he started strongly, and obviously, he’s struggled for form since, pretty much Imola onwards, and it’s been sporadic.
“We saw flashes of performance. Azerbaijan, arguably, he could have won that race, you know, almost a month ago.
“So we know what he’s capable of, and we’re hoping that we can give him the setup and the confidence in the car to extract the kind of performances that we know he’s very capable of.”
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Perez’s future looks less than certain. While he signed a two-year extension with Red Bull earlier this year, which should see him through until the end of 2026, advisor Helmut Marko has said a decision will be made at the end of the season regarding team line-ups at the two Red Bull teams – including who will be “Max Verstappen’s teammate”.
With Liam Lawson stepping into the VCARB and doing his best to impress as the Red Bull Racing seat appears uncertain, Horner said the state of play is that Perez is first choice for F1 2025.
“Look, Checo is our driver. He’s contracted for 2025 – he’s competitive, he’s hungry, and he’s not happy with where he currently is,” he said.
“So, as a team, we’re doing our very best to support him.
“Obviously, it’s a big weekend for him here, huge support.
“I think he’s endorsing every product, from Uber Eats to toilet roll this weekend. it’s impressive, you know, how many endorsements he’s managed to line up for himself!
“He’s currently our driver for 2025.
“Obviously, there is a seat available in VCARB, and they are all Red Bull Racing drivers who are on loan, so we have the benefit of time to sit down with Laurent [Mekies] and Peter [Bayer] and look at all the options.”
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