F1 News: Christian Horner Confronts Sergio Perez's Lack of Pace - 'Need to Get to the Bottom of It'

Sergio Perez is feeling the pressure as his performance starts to dwindle.

Jun 7, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez (MEX) in the pit lane during the practice session at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

The pressure has been on Red Bull driver Sergio 'Checo' Perez after his performance this season has dwindled in comparison to his teammate Max Verstappen, who currently leads the championship. Christian Horner has now confronted questions of his pace directly.

In a similar pattern to last year, Perez excelled at the beginning of the season as he was able to put on a similar performance to his Dutch teammate. This story was short-lived, but not before the Milton Keynes outfit renewed his contract with a 1+1 deal. Unfortunately for the Mexican driver, things went awry, with him sometimes barely able to reach Q3, while Max would sit at the front of the grid.

Talking with Sky Sports, team principal Christian Horner directly commented on the pressure Perez is under not only from the wider Formula 1 community but also the media swirling around the circuit.

“Checo’s position within the team, and what he has contributed to the team, warranted that," he said on the contract renewal before highlighting his team's mindset in the scenario. “But, of course, there is always pressure to perform. That is irrelevant of contracts, which we will never go into the detail of."

It should be noted that Perez's contract is a 1+1, likely with performance-based exit-clauses built into it. The last thing he should be doing is crumbling under the pressure.

“Checo knows it’s a pressure business. He knows the scrutiny, especially in a car that is winning races with the other driver. That’s Formula 1.

“That pressure naturally exists on any teammate that is under-delivering. The media start asking questions and it’s easy to lose your head at that.I’ve been impressed by Checo, over the past four years, that whenever the pressure is really on, and it’s on now, he’s always been able to bounce back.

2023 was the first year in history Red Bull was able to not only win the Constructor's Championship, but also finish with a 1-2 in the Driver's Championship, too.

“He’ll have to dig deep to do that. We are doing our best to support him and find what is missing. The first four or five races were extremely competitive. Whatever has happened to cause him to drop off..."

Horner reveals that the team is analysing his performance, which is currently a question mark.

“In Suzuka, one of the toughest tracks in the world and a real drivers’ circuit, he was a tenth of a second off Max. Here, with nine corners, the gap is significantly greater. We need to get to the bottom of it, and help him recover"

He ends by setting an optimistic tone for the Grand Prix ahead:

“Having used all four sets getting to Q3, it was always going to be limited what he could do. We were still surprisingly close to the Ferraris and Mercedes.

“We will race better. We have a good strategy, two sets of hards available to us.”