Red Bull team boss Christian Horner suggests Sergio Perez needs a clean weekend to restore his confidence.

Perez has endured a rough run of results since losing out to team-mate Max Verstappen at the Miami Grand Prix.

There, Verstappen raced from ninth on the grid to victory after being caught out by a red flag in qualifying.

Perez meanwhile started from pole and led for much of the race, only to lose out following his pit stop.

Heading into that event, just six points split the two Red Bull pilots with the prospect of a battle for the drivers’ championship a possibility.

Just three races on and that is now highly unlikely as Verstappen sits 69 points clear at the top of the standings.

Perez holds on to second by just nine points over Fernando Alonso; his best result since finishing second in Miami was fourth place in Canada.

“He just needs a good weekend to just lift his confidence,” Horner said.

“He’s had three difficult weekends, three difficult Saturdays, that then puts you on the back foot on a Sunday.

“We’ve seen the potential Checo’s capable of a month or two ago.

“He just needs to have a strong weekend to build that confidence.”

Perez crashed out of qualifying in Monaco before sliding off the road during the same session a week later in Spain.

In Canada, changeable conditions saw him again bundled out in Qualifying 2 while Verstappen claimed pole.

Red Bull has won all eight of the races thus far in 2023, with Perez taking victory twice.

Given such a car advantage, more has been expected of the 33-year-old, now in his third season with the Milton Keynes operation.

That prompted Horner to suggest his driver has been placing too much pressure on himself, urging him to take a more relaxed approach into weekends.

For now, his place in the team is secure with a contract in place through to the end of next season.

However, waiting in the wings is Yuki Tsunoda, who Scuderia AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost has suggested is ready to step up to the senior Red Bull team, and Daniel Ricciardo, who has confirmed his desire to return to the grid next year.

Formula 1 this weekend heads to the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix, with track action beginning at 13:30 local time on Friday (21:30 AEST).