Nearing the end of an under-par season, Christian Horner has reminded Sergio Perez that F1 is a “results-based business” but insists Red Bull are doing their best to help him recover.
This comes on the back of Horner being spotted leaving the
Williams hospitality in Brazil where Franco Colapinto qualified just one place
behind Sergio Perez for Saturday’s Sprint.
F1 is a ‘results-based business’ and Sergio Perez’s are
‘under-par’
Perez has
been the subject of many rumours this season with the Mexican driver
under-performing and leaving Red Bull vulnerable to McLaren, and more recently
Ferrari, in the Constructors’ Championship.
Perez has scored just 150 points as his run off of the F1
podium extended to 15 races in Mexico where he was a disappointing P17 in front
of his home fans. It’s his lowest points tally ever with Red Bull.
The Mexican driver is unlikely
to add to his points in Brazil’s Sprint as he’ll line up 13th on the
grid, only one place ahead of F1 2025 VCARB hopeful Franco Colapinto but five
behind the driver who could seal Perez’s fate, Liam Lawson.
According to reports, should Lawson’s stellar audition
continue, he would replace Perez at Red Bull next season and that would free up
his VCARB seat for Colapinto. If, of course, Williams agree to let the
Argentinean leave.
Horner, who was seen
at the Williams hospitality on Friday, says Red Bull are doing everything
they can to support Perez but his results are “under-par”. The team even
changed the 34-year-old’s chassis ahead of the Brazilian weekend.
“We’re doing our best to try and help rebuild his
confidence. He had a horrible weekend in Mexico,” he told Sky F1.
“We’ve changed his chassis this weekend. It’s an older
chassis, that we’ve put him into just to give him that extra boost of
confidence.
“But Sergio is a seasoned campaigner, he’s been around long
enough that he knows this is a results-based business.
“He knows that this season has been under-par for him.
Nobody’s more acutely aware of that than Sergio, but we’re doing our best that
we can to support him.”
Sergio Perez defiant in the face of Red Bull rumours
Perez, though, defiantly told the media in the build-up to
the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend that he’s not going anywhere.
Amidst rumours he could be out of the car before the season
is over or at the latest at the end of the year, he insisted: “No, not at all.
It’s just rumours, at the end of the day.
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