F1 News
Horner dodges question on whether Perez can be replaced this year
- Cas van de Kleut
Sergio Perez is under pressure. The Mexican recently extended his contract at Red Bull Racing, but there are allegedly performance clauses in his contract, which means the team could still decide to eject him from the car if he does not perform well enough. Christian Horner dodged a question afterwards about whether there was any chance of Perez being evicted as early as this season.
Horner did not yet speak to Perez immediately after qualifying, he told opposite Viaplay: "Not yet. I mean, obviously, it was Wets going to slicks and it looks like he just got it wrong on the down part of the circuit. So nobody will be more disappointed than him. But obviously, he puts a lot of pressure on for tomorrow's race."
Will Perez be expelled from Red Bull
There have been plenty of times in the past when someone within the Red Bull family has been replaced while the season was still in progress. One example is the swap of Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen in 2016. The Dutchman then went on to win at the next race.
A test by Liam Lawson in the RB20 is scheduled for next Thursday. However, this has nothing to do with the pressure on Perez, Horner told us: "Well, firstly, the Liam test has been planned for a long time and that was scheduled several weeks ago. So that's just part of our run plan. Our priority is getting Checo back up to speed. The first five races he was on the podium and pushing, pushing hard and he's had a drop off since then. So, unfortunately, today it hasn't helped."
When Horner was then asked if there is any chance Red Bull might decide to remove Perez from the seat before the end of the season, he replied evasively: "Look, I mean, our priority is to get Checo going. That's what we want to do and support him the best we can."
This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.