Horner sees Ricciardo flying: 'This is the Daniel we know again'

"He's got 13 years of experience in Formula 1, and I think when you're going through a difficult moment it's important to support him," Horner said about Perez, who for now still occupies second place in the World Championship. Formula 1's cameras also caught a nice picture during the Mexican GP of the team boss putting an arm around the veteran driver from the pit wall.

"I think that he was having a great weekend up until that point, and he was going for the lead at his home race in Mexico City with a crowd that is insane with the amount of support behind him. But three into one doesn't go, and unfortunately, he was just on the wrong side of them." So at 'his' Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, it was all over for Perez after just one lap.

Ricciardo back again

While Perez probably wants to forget the weekend at home quickly, for Ricciardo the race in Mexico City may mark the starting point of something beautiful. The Australian finished fourth in qualifying and eventually crossed the line seventh on Sunday: it earned him and AlphaTauri six important points.

"You couldn't fail to be impressed by Daniel this weekend," Horner said. "I mean his qualifying was outstanding yesterday, and he showed his maturity and experience and pace in the race. I think that fighting a Mercedes in an AlphaTauri for their best result of the year was a great performance, and had it not been for the red flag, he might have finished even further up, so he can take a lot of confidence coming back from injury. He's had a rough time over the last couple of months having to sit on the sidelines, but that's the Daniel that we're used to seeing."