Perez slumped from second on the grid to eighth at the chequered flag in the Belgian Grand Prix.

He was ultimately classified seventh after George Russell was disqualified, while team-mate Max Verstappen climbed from 11th on the grid to fourth in the final classification.

UPDATE: Sergio Perez future decided with Horner statement

With Oscar Piastri second and Lando Norris fifth for McLaren, the result meant Red Bull Racing’s lead on the constructors’ championship has now dwindled to just 42 points.

“Starting on the front row, objective really was, pre-race, we felt that third and fifth would be achievable,” admitted Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner.

“We achieved the fifth, but we didn’t achieve the third. So we obviously need to go through the data understand where his loss of pace was.”

It’s thought the Belgian Grand Prix was a final opportunity for Perez to demonstrate his worth, having contributed just 28 points in eight races.

Verstappen has amassed 141 in the same period for a combined 169 points for the team. McLaren has scored 242 points in that time.

“Checo’s had a tough run over the last few races,” Horner noted.

“What’s so confusing for us is the season started so well for him, and then tailed off.

“He did a great job, a super job in qualifying yesterday. We need to go through and understand the issues in the in the race.

“We’ve got the time to do that and analyse that and work with him.”

Perez’s place in the team is in doubt as it chases another constructors’ championship.

Formula 1 prize money is paid out based on a team’s finishing position in that competition, not the driver’s standings, making the Mexican’s contribution critical.

Heading into the Belgian weekend, he remained the preferred option.

However, Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson have both been linked with replacing the 34-year-old at Red Bull Racing following the August break.

“We’ve got a meeting tomorrow, but it’s not just about Checo,” Horner confessed.

“It’s going to have other topics on the agenda as well, which we always do going into the summer break.

“For us, the focus is on the constructors’. That we’ve seen another seven or eight points taken off us again today, we need to turn that around coming out of the break in Zandvoort.”

In his fifth season with Red Bull Racing, Perez last year finished second in the drivers’ championship, the first time the team had achieved a one-two result in that competition.

During his tenure in Milton Keynes, he’s won five times, the most recent being the Azerbaijan Grand Prix early last season.

His last podium came in China, while seventh in Belgium equalled his best result since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

“Checo is a great team player, and he’s a massive team player, and that’s why he was selected,” Horner explained.

“That’s why we took him at the end of 2020 to put alongside Max and he’s won six, seven races for us, second in the world championship last year, goodness knows how many podiums.

“It’s been the most successful combination we’ve ever had as a driver pairing.

“What’s frustrating for everybody is Checo struggling, because nobody wants to see him struggle. Everybody wants to see him succeed.

“The team has been and is right behind him. Everybody wants to see him succeed because it hurts seeing him in the situation that he is.”

That prolonged battle however could force an unpalatable conclusion to his tenure with Red Bull Racing.

“Nobody wants to make that decision,” Horner said of the prospect of dropping Perez.

“In the team, we want to get him we want to get him going, we want to understand…

“You see glimpses of his race pace; last weekend was strong, the fourth best race pace in Budapest, but he had a difficult Saturday with a crash in quali; did a good job yesterday, to put it five hundreds of Charles [Leclerc] on a scrubbed set of tyres and put it on the front row, it was a tremendous effort.

“Today, his race faded.

“He’s acutely aware of anybody that we need both cars performing and which is what we had at the beginning of the year,” Horner added.

“That’s where we need to get back to.”

While Horner will discuss Perez’s struggles in today’s meeting, on Wednesday Ricciardo and Lawson will be in action at Imola.

Driving a 2022 spec AlphaTauri, it’s touted as a shootout between the two with a view to one of them joining Red Bull Racing for the second half of the season.

It’s also thought to be a crucial moment for Daniel Ricciardo, who is in a bizarre position where he could find himself promoted or dropped.