Horner Dismisses Perez Separation Rumors For 2024 Season

Thursday, 19 October 2023 at 18:00

Updated at Wednesday, 25 October 2023 at 21:36

Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner reacted to Sergio Perez's separation rumors ahead of the 2023 United States Grand Prix.

The future of Perez in Red Bull has been one of the main topics over the last couple of weeks. Multiple prominent figures in Formula One have shared their opinions multiple times.

Most notably, Red Bull's advisor Helmut Marko, whose opinion matters when it comes to choosing drivers for the team, said Perez "needs change in climate and team."

Multiple rumors have surfaced saying if Perez fails to achieve second place in the Drivers' Championship, his future in Red Bull is over. The team principal, Christian Horner, denied these rumors when he the Mirror:

"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."

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Just as Mark Webber suggested, Horner also admits Perez has tough competitors lined up in the battle for second place in the Championship.

"We believe that he can achieve that second place in the Championship, but he is up against tough competitors with a lot of racing still to go."

Horner acknowledges Checo's essential contributions in helping to secure the 2021 Drivers' Championship for Max Verstappen and both Dirvers' and Constructors' Championships for the Red Bull team in 2022.

"We selected Checo in the first place because of his experience and his ability to be able to deal with pressure. He did a lot for us in ’21 and ’22, contributing to the Constructors’ Championship last year and this year with the victories he has achieved."

Even though qualifying sessions tend not to go so well for the Mexican driver, Horner thinks that Perez has demonstrated his pace time and time again during races.

"We have six one-two finishes this year, he’s won two Grands Prix, and he’s still second in the World Championship, 30 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. It’s not all been bad!”