Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes Sergio Perez is being rewarded in the 2024 Formula 1 season for not being so focused on overtaking teammate Max Verstappen.
Perez started the championship under intense pressure to secure a contract renewal, after a disappointing 2023 where he finished 290 points behind Verstappen. However, the Mexican has had a great start to the season, with four podiums in five races, all in second place behind Verstappen.
Although he didn’t repeat the two victories he achieved in the same period last year, Horner believes Perez is benefiting from having less pressure on him this time.
“You have a tendency to underestimate him, but he is doing a great job,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
“He started the season with a new mentality, he is relaxed and driving the car very well. He’s not focused on his teammate, it’s a different approach, and in the first five races we’ve seen a very strong performance from him. He is driving well, his confidence is growing and we hope he can convert this into another good result soon,” he added.
Perez, who missed out on eight Q3s in 2023, attributes his consistency at the start of 2024 to having stopped ‘inventing’ when tuning the car.
Horner said Perez had altered his approach to this season and praised the way he responded to pressure for a contract extension.
“He’s an important part of the team and it’s about working together. I think he has great engineering support around him and the team is doing a good job. He feels comfortable in the team. He knows he is out of contract at the end of the season and is riding for his future. He responds to pressure in the best possible way, and I think we see that in some drivers, how they deal with pressure, while others sometimes give in. He’s changed a few things in his approach and I think he’s driving really well,” concluded Horner.
Download our official app to Android It is iPhone and receive notifications of the latest news.
