Red Bull Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner has talked in the past of the duty he has to publicly back his drivers – be it for controversies or lacklustre performances.
So, it was interesting to note in Austria last weekend some hints of frustration about Sergio Perez’s showing, as the gap between the Mexican and his team-mate Max Verstappen was all too obvious.
Perhaps nothing tells the story more about where things stack up at the moment than the fact that Verstappen had his crash with Lando Norris, toured slowly back to the pits with a puncture for fresh tyres, picked up his 10-second FIA penalty and still finished 17.4 seconds in front of the second Red Bull.
Sure, Perez’s ultimate potential on Sunday was hampered by sidepod damage he picked up in a first-lap clash with Oscar Piastri – which Horner said acted like an ‘airbrake’ on the straights.
However, there is no denying it was another weekend where Perez had not been right at the front where he is now needed for the championship battle – with him coincidentally having finished the sprint a similar 17.4 seconds behind.
It was Perez’s lacklustre showing on Saturday that prompted Horner to suggest the team was needing to probe deeper about just what was going wrong.
“We’re doing our best to find out what is missing, because the first four or five races were very competitive and whatever has happened to cause him to drop off,” Horner told Sky F1.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, the rest of the field at the start
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
“In Suzuka, one of the toughest tracks in the world and a real driver’s circuit, he was a tenth of a second off Max. Here with nine corners the gap is significantly greater. So, we just need to get to the bottom of it and help him recover.”
The need for recovery is even more important now with Red Bull coming under ever more pressure from its closest challengers at the front.
Only its solid team work in terms of strategy and pit stops, allied to Verstappen’s driving brilliance, has shut the door on McLaren in particular walking away with a spate of wins recently.
The threat from the opposition means that where once a few tenths gap between Verstappen and Perez was barely noticeable in grid positions, now there is no escaping the fact that even one…
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