Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has expressed concern over the growing disparity between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in comparison to their F1 rivals.
Since the fifth race of the season in Miami, when Verstappen beat polesitter Perez from ninth on the grid, the form of the two drivers could not be in greater contrast.
Verstappen has gone on to win 11 of the following 12 races, whilst Perez has only managed four podium finishes – twice third and twice second – in a car that has been the class act of the field.
But for a contract for next season that carries with it tens of millions of dollars in sponsorship revenue from his Mexican backers, it is almost certain Perez would not be with the team.
Perez may have helped Red Bull win the constructors’ championship again, however, Verstappen has scored enough points on his own to be comfortably leading the standings by 107 from Mercedes, such has been his astonishing form.
Yet when Horner looks at Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, he sees three very equal pairings, with the drivers pushing one another, as opposed to the disparity between Verstappen and Perez, even if the latter is still second in the drivers’ standings.
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“The most important thing for us is winning both championships, and we’ve done that,” said Horner. “What’s the next best thing after that? To have both your drivers finish first and second.
“You can see Mercedes have a pair (of drivers), McLaren and Ferrari have a pair where it’s quite tight between the respective drivers.
“We had that at the earlier point in the year but as the season has gone on, it’s become more variant, and we just need to get Checo back to the best form that he’s capable of.”
Whilst Perez has often bemoaned his lack of feeling with the car since winning two of the first four races, Horner has suggested his slump is also now a mental battle after witnessing Verstappen’s blitzkrieg on the other side of the garage.
“When you get into a bit of a spiral like that the two things become intertwined,” added Horner.
“Sometimes you just need to take your foot off, put it on the floor, stop the merry-go-round, and just go back to basics, and that’s what we’ll do.
“We all know what Checo is capable of, and we want to support him to get back into a position where, even as near ago as Monza, he was finishing in second place to Max.
“Sport, though, at the highest echelon is always a mental game as much as a physical one.
“Checo has mentioned he’s working with a coach in that area, and that’s what we need to unlock with him, to give him his confidence.”
Horner has suggested Perez is also putting pressure on himself to finish runner-up in the drivers’ championship as Red Bull has never achieved a one-two in its history.
With an arm around his shoulder, which has “traditionally been the best way to support him”, according to Horner, talks are planned before the upcoming triple-header in the United States, on home turf in Mexico, and then Brazil.
“I think we really need to sit down with Checo because we know what he’s capable of, and he’s not hitting that form at the moment,” remarked Horner.
“We desperately need him to find that form to keep this second place in the championship.
“We’ll support him as much as we can because there’s a triple header coming up, and there’s a huge amount of points, with sprint races as well.
“He’s going to have a lot of support (from fans) over the next three races in Latin America and in the US, in particular, his home race in Mexico City.
“Hopefully, that will help him find the form and the confidence that he seems to have lost at the moment.”
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