Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has stated Sergio Perez doesn’t need to finish second in the driver’s championship to keep his seat.
It can be hard to be Max Verstappen‘s teammate. None more have felt this than Sergio Perez who has had his fair share of difficulties in the 2023 F1 season.
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Perez started the season strong, winning two races in the first half of the season. However, recently, he has had a run of bad results which has put him under pressure by the team.
Speculation has filled the paddock that Red Bull required him to finish second to keep his seat. Despite this, Horner is adamant this is not true.
Although the team would love it if Perez did, he has assured his seat is guaranteed no matter what.
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“There’s no pre-mandate on Checo that you have to finish second or you won’t be driving the car next year.”
In an interview with Autosport, he said:
“We’ve never finished first and second in a championship. We finished first and third a few times with Mark [Webber] and Sebastian [Vettel] and we finished it last year with Max and Checo.
“With this car, it would be fantastic, in such a season we’ve had, if we could finish first and second.
“But there’s no pre-mandate on Checo that you have to finish second or you won’t be driving the car next year. That’s never been discussed.”
Horner believes that Perez can return to his earlier form, reminiscing on Bahrain this year. According to him, Perez was fighting closely with Max in Bahrain and stated Perez won Jeddah on fine margins. He said:
“His race in Azerbaijan, winning the sprint and the grand prix there. Those are the kinds of performances that we know he’s capable of.”
Red Bull has been clear in its support for Perez, stating that the most important thing is getting him mentally back up to speed.
Clearly secure in Red Bull in 2024, options beyond this seem strong states Horner. He said:
“We are certainly not short of options. We’ve got plenty of time to look and evaluate that, but there’s so many factors involved.”
Asked by Autosport if there were concerns of finding a driver who could fight Verstappen, he dismissed that would be an issue.
