F1 News

Horner: 'The Verstappen and Perez relationship is the best we've ever had'.

5 August 2022 at 06:51
Last update 5 August 2022 at 09:25
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  • GPblog.com

Things seem to be going well between Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Team principal Christian Horner calls the relation between the two drivers the best he has ever seen at the team.

Horner said in an interview with Cambridge Union last month that Perez and Verstappen are anything but friends. According to the Briton that is impossible, because in Formula 1 you are judged by your performance compared to your teammate. Still, Horner thinks Verstappen and Perez have an excellent relationship as far as that is possible. The Briton has never seen such a good relationship between drivers in his long career at Red Bull.

Perez feels more at home at Red Bull

At the same time, Horner seems to know why. Perez has become a much better fit for the team in the past year. Horner: "This year not everything is new for him. And of course because of Covid last year - the last part of last year - he couldn't even walk freely around the factory and meet people. It was a very strange introduction. I think he is more relaxed now." Horner notes that the team's second driver feels more at home with his engineers.

Horner concludes, "And his relationship with Max is the best we have ever seen in all our driver combinations." At the same time, Horner admits that with Perez's belief of becoming champion this year, there is a different dynamic in the team. An on-track fight gone wrong could potentially cost the Red Bull drivers dearly. Horner was very tough on Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo after their crash in Baku 2018.