Horner puts pressure on Perez: 'We desperately need him up there'

Not surprisingly, Red Bull led the constructors championship in the first half of the season with seven victories in the first 10 races. After the first portion of the season, car performance seemed to take a turn at the Milton Keynes-based squad. Max Verstappen often achieved results that helped Red Bull in the championship, but Perez was sometimes disappointing.

Horner: 'It's all to play for' in the constructors

After a difficult first day in Las Vegas, Red Bull once again doesn't look like the fastest team. Is Horner confident Red Bull will still be in the constructor's title fight come to Abu Dhabi? "Well, based on the session just now, it's going to be a bit tougher. But, look, I mean, it's moving around all over the place. And one week, we're quick, one week, it's Ferrari or a couple of weeks, it's been Ferrari. McLaren has always been there or thereabouts. So anything can happen. And it just takes a DNF to bring the whole thing completely alive. We're getting towards the end of engine lives and all of those kinds of components. And the sprint race in Qatar next weekend. So, look, I mean, it's all to play for," he explained.

Horner also addressed the situation surrounding Perez. He's under pressure, but is Red Bull prepared to let him go before he sees out his contract, which runs to the end of 2026? "Sergio is our driver, and we want to do the very best to get the most out of him. He's had a really tough run of form over recent weeks and months. And from a constructor's point of view, we desperately need both cars right up there working as a pair, which we haven't had. So, obviously, hopefully, Checo can get some strong performances in these last three races. But there's no way we're going to be able to win the constructor's championship without that."

Horner on contracts: 'If we chose to, we could leave it up to Melbourne!'

The Red Bull team boss continued, highlighting the fact that Red Bull could wait until the first race of 2025 in Melbourne to finalise their driver lineup. "All the drivers that we have under contract, we're very clear on what their contractual situations are. So if you like, we have a team that really, I mean, if we so chose, could leave it all the way up until Melbourne next year if we wanted because we have drivers under contract. But inevitably, at the end of the year, we'll sit down and look at all the information that's available to us." Red Bull's team principal concluded.

This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut.