Sergio Pérez’s days at Red Bull appear to be numbered, especially after his disappointing performance at the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The Mexican teammate of Max Verstappen started the race in second place, but ultimately finished eighth and failed to play a significant role, even in supporting Verstappen.
“We need to thoroughly examine and discuss this. Obviously, we don’t want a driver who starts the race from P2 to end up at P8,” Horner responded immediately after the race. A crisis meeting is planned at Red Bull on Monday to discuss the situation with Pérez.
In the constructors’ championship, Horner saw the competition catching up to Red Bull. The fact that other teams consistently score points with two drivers and it’s mainly Verstappen who has to pull the chestnuts out of the fire at Red Bull, is becoming more and more of a problem. Horner about this: “We need two cars that score points. McLaren has caught up with us again today. That needs to stop. Hopefully, we can make a comeback after the summer break.”
Horner was, however, satisfied with Verstappen’s race. “He drove from P11 to P5 and finished ahead of his main competitor Lando Norris, which is fine in our situation now. Max had a good race. It was overall an interesting race. Everyone was somewhat apprehensive about tire wear here beforehand, especially because of the new asphalt. And then George Russell wins with a one-stopper… We didn’t have that strategy in our book beforehand.”
