F1 News: Christian Horner Responds to Sergio Perez Mexico Disaster

Christian Horner addressed the poor qualifying performance of Sergio Perez in Mexico.

Jun 8, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal Christian Horner in the pit lane at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images / Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has addressed the contrasting performances of his drivers, Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, during the Mexican Grand Prix's qualifying session. While Verstappen managed a commendable front-row start despite setbacks, Perez struggled significantly, suffering from a Q1 exit.

Perez is set to start his home race from the eighteenth position on the grid. Speaking about his performance after the session, the Mexican driver commented:

"Very difficult one, very difficult to stop the car. I just couldn’t get on top of it. I couldn’t stop the car soon enough and I was just putting too much energy into the tires braking. That was the main issue for me.

"It was very similar to the rest of the weekend. I just cannot stop the car and I’m struggling a lot with that part of the phase going into the low-speed, it’s a little bit similar to Austin when I just cannot attack the corners into the braking, and here you have a lot of that."

Horner, who recently reiterated the need for both Perez and Verstappen to be performing at the top of their game in order to fight for the Constructors' Championship, has reflected on Perez's Mexico Qualifying disappointment.

"He's been struggling, he was saying, with the car. So under braking and on corner entry. So, of course, it's a big difference between the time in the two cars. So very disappointing for him, particularly in front of his home crowd. But I'm sure he'll give it everything tomorrow,"  Horner stated.

Dismissing the idea that it could be the pressure of his home race, Horner added:

"I think he's usually pretty good under those circumstances. But look, he'll be more disappointed than anybody with that performance today so, hopefully he can have a better race tomorrow."

On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Verstappen was able to secure a front-row start from second place despite a lack of practice time. Horner commented:

"I think he did a great job. Considering he lost most of yesterday, he's on the back foot coming into today and to qualify on the front row, there was a lot of pressure on that last lap because of the track limits on the first lap.3.

"Of course, you're desperately hoping not for a yellow flag, But he delivered and put it on the front row. I have to congratulate Carlos. He's been very fast all weekend and two laps that were good enough for pole. So he'll be tough to beat tomorrow, but delighted to be on the front row."