Christian Horner makes admission about Red Bull’s Sergio Perez F1 replacement plans

Christian Horner addressed rumors that, should he not place second in the standings, Red Bull may replace Sergio Perez at the end of the season in an exclusive interview with Mirror Sport.

Although he rejected the notion that the Mexicans had received a “ultimatum,” Christian Horner acknowledged he had not even entertained the notion of firing Sergio Perez.

Perez has had a difficult season overall, but the last few weeks have been especially difficult. After winning two of the first four races of the year, teammate Max Verstappen has completely outperformed him.

Despite having a far faster car, his troubles have reduced his lead over Lewis Hamilton to just 30 points in the standings. Horner, the Red Bull team principal, told Mirror Sport that his team’s only goal for the remainder of the season is to assist Perez in completing a one-two finish in the standings.

“This is an unprecedented accomplishment for us and will add even greater value to what we consider to be our best-ever car,” he remarked. “We’re trying our hardest to encourage Checo and assist him in achieving the form we know he can and showed earlier this year.

“He demonstrated some incredible races, such as those in Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, so we’re sure he can find his form again. He even drove a fantastic race and finished second in Monza not too long ago. You’re basically only as good as your last race in this business because people tend to forget things quickly. ****.

Through three consecutive full race weekends, Perez has only managed five points—one of the lowest totals of his Red Bull career.
With Hamilton pursuing him closely, there was a rumor this week that the team might consider replacing him if he is overtaken by his Mercedes rival before the season ends.

However, Horner denied ever having considered the idea when it was brought to his attention. He answered, “We haven’t talked about it or even considered it.”. We want to do everything in our power to help Checo, our driver.

“We think he can finish second in the championship, but there is still a lot of racing left, and he faces tough competition.
Checo was our first choice due to his background and his capacity for handling pressure.
He accomplished a great deal for us in 2021 and 2022, and his victories this year and last year helped the constructors’ championship.

“We haven’t seen that in the last few races, but we know what he is capable of. To ensure he returns to that early-season form, we want to provide him with support. Being Max’s teammate is tough during this tough season, but we also need to remember the mental challenge.

Though we are aware of Checo’s abilities and that qualifying is typically his weak point, on a Sunday afternoon in the race, he truly shines.
Time and time again, he has shown that.
He has won two Grands Prix, we have six one-two finishes this year, and he is still 30 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the world championship.
Not everything has been negative.