Horner has no more excuses for Perez's disappointing performance
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Sergio Perez started the Belgian Grand Prix from the front row of the grid, but eventually finished seventh, three places behind his teammate Max Verstappen, who started from P11. All of this happened while the Mexican needed to perform before the summer break to convince Red Bull Racing that he is worth his contract extension. After the Formula 1 race at Spa-Francorchamps, team principal Christian Horner therefore received a plethora of questions about Perez's situation.
Surrounded by journalists, Horner takes his seat inside Red Bull's hospitality unit. Unlike previous years, there were no Red Bull drivers on the podium at the circuit where Verstappen had won three years in a row. The Dutchman minimised the damage by driving from P11 to P5 after a grid penalty - eventually P4 due to George Russell's disqualification. Perez, however, dropped from P2 to P8, although he too won a position for the same reason.
Perez did not live up to expectations at Spa
Expectations were not met, to say the least, especially after the strong pace the Austrian F1 team showed throughout the weekend. "Starting on the front row, our objective really was, pre-race, we felt that third and fifth would be achievable. We achieved the fifth but we didn't achieve the third," Horner addressed the group of media present, including GPblog, ahead of Russell's disqualification. "So we obviously need to go through the day to understand where his loss of pace was."
"I think that based on his starting position, we didn't envisage finishing eighth from second in the group," the Red Bull team principal said about Perez's performance. Something to be said for the Mexican is that he was brought in early for his second stop, but that is no excuse as far as Horner is concerned. "Bearing in mind Russell did a one-stop, it shouldn't really have affected him too much."
Team dynamics between Verstappen and Perez crucial at Red Bull
GPblog asked to what extent the dynamics between Verstappen and Perez played a role in the decision about the Mexican's future, Horner agreed that their partnership was an important factor. "Checo is a great team player, and that's why he was selected, that's why we took him at the end of 2020 to put alongside Max," explained the 50-year-old Briton.
"He's won six or seven races for us, second in the world championship last year, and goodness knows how many podiums. It’s been the most successful combination we've ever had as a driver pairing. What's frustrating for everybody is Checo struggling, because nobody wants to see him struggle, everybody wants to see him succeed. The team's been, and is, right behind him. Everybody wants to see him succeed because it hurts seeing him in the situation that he is in," Horner concluded.