F1 News
Horner on Perez: 'Not driving like he's got 3 kids'
Lizzie Lemon
You could say that Sergio Perez is finally driving like his career depends on it... because it does. He took all the risks at Suzuka to keep his Red Bull seat in 2025, twice overtaking a Mercedes into the high-speed kink at 130R. The Mexican was not driving “like he had three kids”, according to team boss Christian Horner, who is basking in yet another flawless weekend for Red Bull.
Is Perez doing enough to stay?
“I must admit, I had my eyes shut as he went into 130R. Do you need to do it there? Can’t you wait till the straight?” recalls Horner on Perez's nail-biting overtakes during Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
He joins many in thinking Perez’s performance in Japan was his raciest in a while. “Checo in particular had a strong weekend […] to qualify within a tenth of his teammate here, his race pace was strong obviously [despite] the disadvantage of having to come back through traffic” the team boss praised.
The Mexican’s contract is up at the end of 2024, yet there’s been no word from Red Bull on whether Perez will stay as their number two driver. When asked about the 34-year-old's current attitude, Horner replied: “I think his confidence is high, he’s very focused on the job in hand, and he’s comfortable in the team. He knows he’s out of a contract for next year, it’s his seat to lose, he’s very popular in the team and he’s started the season in the best possible way.”
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Red Bull’s Suzuka Summary
Perez's performance was in keeping with yet another near-perfect weekend for Red Bull. A 1-2 qualifying, a 1-2 finish, seamless pitstops and the fastest lap in the race for Verstappen. Horner said that despite warmer track temperatures on Sunday than Friday’s long run, he was happy with their race pace. “The circuit was in quite different shape to where the long run had been on Friday. But, for us, I thought it was a very well-executed race, no dramas, no issues.”
He praised those back at the factory for their impact on the race. “I think the good work the engineers have done, supported by Milton Keynes, and obviously the changes they introduced on the car worked very well in the long run. Degradation was very low.”
A lucky red flag
Viewers may have heard the amusing radios between Verstappen and his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, in the early stages of the race, when Verstappen complained that the car was switching from oversteer to understeer. GP had suggested tweaking the front wing before the race to negate that, but the three-time World Champion said no. So when the Dutchman came on the radio, GP replied: “I won’t say I told you so, but understood. Thank you!”
Horner gave GPBlog and others an interesting insight; “I think the red flag helped them reset their front wings”. A bit of extra time to fine-tune the Red Bull was a lucky break that saved Verstappen from a trickier 53 laps at Suzuka.
