Christian Horner talks about Sergio Perez and his chances beyond 2024 F1 season, as he weighs in on other drivers in fray too.
Much like the mid-season, the discussion around the future of Red Bull’s Perez has continued on until the last weekend of the 2024 F1 season in Abu Dhabi. In fact, the exit speculation has gained momentum, with several hinting towards a parting post the final weekend.
That is apart from Perez who insists that he has a contract for 2025 and that he will continue on. After Qatar, Horner reflected on the Mexican’s journey with Red Bull. Much like then, he continued on with the same dialogue of giving him as much in the final weekend.
But he didn’t utter the cardinal word of ‘having a contract’ and that ‘he is a Red Bull driver’ for future but kept to the present scene. In fact, he conceded that awarding him a contract extension so early in the year didn’t work out as expected.
He agreed that being Max Verstappen’s teammate is tough, but that’s the name of the game. From his words, it seems like Franco Colapinto is out of contention, but the likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson remain in the fray.
Post Qatar –
Horner: “Look, Checo has had a very tough year and obviously the points tables are what they are. We’re very much focused on really supporting him to the chequred flag in Abu Dhabi. And then obviously it’s not an enjoyable situation for Checo being in this position with speculation every week. He’s old enough and wise enough to know what the situation is and let’s see where we are after Abu Dhabi. Checo has contributed a huge amount to this team in the four years that he’s been here. You know, the world championship that Max achieved in ’21, the Constructors World Championships in ’22 and ’23 and obviously this year has been particularly hard. He’s won five Grand Prix for us, And he’s had some outstanding performances in races like Singapore, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, to name a few.
“So everybody holds Checo in the highest of regard and respect but obviously, the situation that we’re in is as painful for him as it is for the team. Look, I’m going to let Checo come to his own conclusions, nobody’s forcing him way or another, but I’m going to let him, it’s not a nice situation for him to obviously be in. We’ve got one more race this year, so we’ll throw everything at it and hopefully he can have a strong race to end the season in Abu Dhabi. I think that’s all hypothetical [future course] subject to what happens with Checo. So let’s get to the end of Abu Dhabi and then we’ll see where we are.”
Colapinto, VCARB drivers –
Horner: ”He [Colapinto] for sure is a talent, looking for a permanent place in Formula 1. However, we have a great pool of talent with the Red Bull Junior Team. I’m sure Franco will find his way to the grid in the future. You always keep an eye on who is on the market in all the teams. We have the strength of our junior programme. It was also good to see Isack Hadjar perform well in Formula 2 in Qatar. Liam and Yuki were also very closely matched in terms of race pace in Qatar. We have a lot of drivers in our racing stable.”
Being teammate to Verstappen –
Horner: “That’s a very good question. Being Max Verstappen’s teammate is probably the hardest job in Formula One. That would apply for any of the drivers on the grid, I believe. Max has evolved so much. If you compare Max when he drove with Daniel back in 2018, he’s evolved a lot since then as well. He’s so complete. Today, just have a look at the lap chart, and I was keeping an eye on his middle sector in particular, because that’s where you wanted to try and get the DRS gap, and he is within the tenth to half a tenth every lap. That precision is something you don’t see very often.”
Looking towards Abu Dhabi –
Perez: “For me it’s just important to focus on the weekend. Give the best possible I can for the team to really try and prove to the whole group of the team that we can do it. I think that’s the main objective for the weekend. Nothing has changed since before in terms of what I’ve said for the entire year. I’ve got a contract for next year and I will be driving for Red Bull next year. I already said. Nothing further to add. I have a contract for next year. To be honest I haven’t been much into it for sure. I have seen the rumours but nothing different to the last couple of months. In that regard nothing further to add. I already said it in the last six months, that I’m here. I renewed with the team earlier in the year and I’m here to be the driver for the team next year and it’s where my full focus is.”
Agree the season hasn’t been good –
Perez: “I think it’s just important to stay together [as a team]. The season hasn’t been the greatest but at the end of the day there’s a reason why they renewed me and they know I can still do it and that’s the important factor. Of course, I take responsibility, but also I don’t feel it’s all down to one person. I’m obviously part of a big organisation, a big team, and it’s very unfortunate we did not fight any harder for the constructors’. So I will really keep pushing for this final race to really try to finish the season on a high because at the end of the day, it’s always nice to go home with a good result. It’s hard to say at the moment [of driving anywhere else]. I still feel like I have a few years in me in the sport at this level, and for sure, I want to finish with Red Bull.”
Hot speculation of last race in Abu Dhabi for Perez –
Horner: “First of all, the test with Yuki has been planned for some time. So it’s been on the cards for, I think, three months or something like that. So that’s something that’s been scheduled. Now, obviously, Checo is our driver. He remains our driver, contracted to the team. And obviously, this season hasn’t gone to anyone’s plan, particularly with Checo’s performance and since Monaco, it’s been very, very tough for him. And so inevitably, once we get this race out of the way, we’ll sit down and discuss the future. But Checo has been a very important part of our team. He’s done a tremendous job for us.
“If you think back, you know, only three years to that 2021 final, two Constructors’ Championship that he’s contributed to as well. So there’s huge respect for Checo within the team and nobody likes to see him struggling like the way he has. And, you know, we’ll sit down and discuss things after the season. We’re fortunate that we’ve got a tremendous pool of talent. It was good to see Isack Hadjar getting a run out as well in free practice there. We’ve got two talented drivers in VCARB. But until the situation is clear with Sergio and what he wants to do, everything else is purely speculation.”
Early signing didn’t work –
Horner: “Well, obviously at the time, Sergio was performing extremely well. I think he had four podiums in the first five races. And in order to settle his mind and extend that run of form for the rest of the season, we elected to go early, which obviously didn’t work. So, that’s just life sometimes. And I think Checo, you have to look beyond this year for the contribution that he’s made to our team. He’s been a great team player. He’s a great person. He’s extremely popular within the team. He’s worked very hard over the four years that he’s been with us. And, yeah, he’s played a vital role in the Constructors’ Championships that we’ve won, the five Grand Prix victories that he had in our car.
“It’s been the most successful pairing that we’ve ever had finishing first and second in the Drivers’ Championship last year. So I think nobody more is frustrated with the results than Checo, from his own high standards. And that’s obviously been painful for him. for the team and we’ve worked tremendously hard to try and support him and we’ll continue to do so all the way up until the chequered flag on Sunday, where hopefully he can get a good result at the final race of the year.”
Being teammate to Verstappen takes a toll –
Horner: “Well, I think probably being Max’s teammates, the toughest drive in Formula 1, because he sets such a high standard, such a high bar. And his performances are just relentless. So anybody sat in the car alongside him has got to have tremendous strength of character and have the ability obviously to work within a team and be able to focus on themselves and to a degree almost ignore what’s going on in the other car because I think that’s where mentally, it becomes incredibly tough, as we’ve seen with many of the greats. I’m sure when you work with Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna previously, teammates had a similarly hard job. And Max now joins that elite group of people. It’s as simple as that.”
Here’s Christian Horner in response
Here’s George Russell, Toto Wolff bearing it all
Here’s George Russell on Max Verstappen
Here’s Max Verstappen, Christian Horner on George Russell
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