Olly Darcy is an editor at GPblog, specializing in Formula 1 news. With a background in sports journalism, he delivers timely and reliable coverage of the sport.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner would have ignored driver Sergio Perez had he not made the top five during qualifying in Belgium, he laughingly said. The Mexican has regularly disappointed in qualifying sessions this season, and earlier in Hungary made it to Q3 for the first time in six races.
The six-time race winner qualified third for the Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. However, he was allowed to start from P2, as teammate and polesitter Max Verstappen started from P6 due to a grid penalty. Horner had a special way of prodding the Mexican: "I said to him that if he did not finish at least fifth, I would ignore him," the flamboyant team boss said. He also stated that his private parts might not have been safe.
'Pinching and ignoring Perez'
It worked. Perez qualified third and eventually finished the race second, 22 seconds behind Verstappen. The Briton thinks he will have to use this motivation more often. "It did the job, so we'll have to try and get it at Zandvoort!"
Perez is currently second in the World Championship, 125 points behind Verstappen. He has a gap over Fernando Alonso, with the Aston Martin driver sitting in thrid place, 40 points behind.
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