Horner: 'Perez was in the simulator for three days last week'

Perez is working on turning the ship around. His first chance for a turnaround comes this weekend at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. And so far, the Mexican has done everything he can not to let this opportunity pass him by again.

Perez needs to stop the rot

In an interview with British tabloid Mirror, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner opens up about the ups and downs of the team's second driver. According to Horner, Perez is doing everything he can to forget the recent past and arrive at the start well-prepared. But Horner does not mince words, Sergio's extra efforts are also really needed because things are not going well: "Sergio Perez has been working overtime to stop the rot and get his season back on track."

Horner added something quite remarkable: "He was on the simulator for three days last week, which is not something he has ever done previously." Several top Formula 1 drivers are known to spend a lot of time in the simulator, but that was apparently not the case with Perez.

Simulator push

According to the Red Bull boss, training in the simulator has paid off for Perez. It is said to have helped him figure out the cause of his problems, thus taking a step forward: "Three days in succession to try to help him to get to the root cause of some of the issues he felt he had in Qatar and Japan. I think he made some great progress so, hopefully, that will come to the fore this weekend. He's going the extra yard, which is so important."

Horner also responded to a rumour that Perez would be sacked from Red Bull Racing if he failed to hold on to second place in the Formula One world championship. He denied this and expressed his support for the Mexican Formula One driver: "It's not something that we have discussed or even contemplated. Checo is our driver and we want to support him in the best way that we can."