Horner admits Perez was "struggling" to perform amid "speculation"
F1 News
2024 has been a year of ups and downs for Sergio Perez. Earlier on in the season, around the month of June, the Mexican signed a two-year contract extension with Red Bull to continue racing for the Austrian team. However, after signing that contract, the results to back it up did not follow, and speculation grew as to whether Perez would even make it through the rest of 2024, let alone the rest of his contract extension.
After a disappointing 2023, only managing to win two races compared to Verstappen's 19 victories, many thought that Perez would not be re-signed by Red Bull. However, after aiding Verstappen as a great number two driver, the Austrian team was ready to add another two years to his contract, hoping to see him grow even more into the seat.
That was not the case. Perez recorded three pointless scores in Monaco, Canada and Silverstone, with the races in Canada and Silverstone coming after his contract extension. There were also four Q1 eliminations in qualifying, and Perez's seat became extremely vulnerable. However, since the summer break, he has made it into Q3 in the last three Grands Prix with an RB20 that even Max Verstappen is struggling to make perform. Team principal Christian Horner commented on the steps Perez has made.
Perez has 'reset and refreshed' behind the wheel of the RB20
Horner started by saying that he knew Perez was under a lot of pressure before the summer break after his poor results: "I think that just before the summer break, obviously, massive scrutiny and pressure was being placed on him. Obviously, it's a media business that we live in, and of course, that scrutiny can sometimes become overwhelming. He was struggling with the constant speculation about his job prior to the summer break."
However, the Brit continued on by highlighting the chance the summer break gave Perez to reassess and regroup: "I think going away, having the ability to reset, refresh, and come back with a clear mindset, knowing that he's got the full support of the team, that he is our driver. We know we've got some issues on the car that we're pushing to sort out.
"He's been putting in a lot of hard work to help address that. I think that we're starting to see him find some of the form that hopefully he showed at the beginning of the year, because we're going to need it as we strive to defend this constructors' title," concluded Horner.