Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
With his Red Bull future a massive talking point, the F1 driver gets another big vote of confidence from his boss
Sergio Pérez’s Formula 1 future remains one of the biggest talking points on the grid as the season winds down.
But the Red Bull driver has just received his biggest vote of confidence yet from Team Principal Christian Horner.
Speaking to the media ahead of the United States Grand Prix, the Red Bull boss made it clear that not only is Pérez under contract through 2024, but reports that his position with the team are contingent upon finishing second in the Drivers’ Championship are well off the mark.
“But there’s no pre-mandate on Checo that you have to finish second or you won’t be driving the car next year. That’s never been discussed,” said Horner to RaceFans.
As things stand ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Pérez has just a 27-point lead over Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton picked up three more points in his pursuit of Pérez in Saturday’s F1 Sprint race, finishing in second place, three spots ahead of Pérez in fifth.
“He actually drove a pretty decent race,” Horner said of Pérez’s effort in the F1 Sprint. “He made decent progress.
“I think his race will be okay, his particular challenge has been on the one-lap, qualifying. When you qualify out of position it just puts you under more pressure. Hopefully he can have a good race and take some confidence out of that.”
Perez will start today’s race from seventh. “I think in terms of the work he’s done so far, the unfortunate thing for him is that the whole grid has [constricted] a bit, particularly in qualifying, so the fine margins become very expensive,” Horner added.
As Horner made clear, there is no requirement for Pérez to finish second to keep his seat. Furthermore, such a requirement might be unfair, given that Red Bull has never seen its two drivers finish first and second in the Driver’s Championship.
“There’s no pre-mandate like that,” he said. “We’ve never finished first and second in a championship, we finished first and third a few times with Mark [Webber] and Sebastian [Vettel], we finished it last year with Max and Checo.
“With this car, it would be fantastic in such a season that we’ve had, if we could finish first and second.”
However, if Pérez ultimately falls short, it will not cost him his seat.
