Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has stressed the urgency for Sergio Perez to reverse his current slump in form following another disappointing qualifying performance.
Perez crashed during Q1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix and will start Sunday’s race 16th on the grid.
Horner described the setback as “far from ideal,” highlighting Perez’s recent struggles.
“We haven’t debriefed yet but obviously he’d set a time that was comfortably in the top 10,” Horner told Channel 4.
“Then the rain started to come, he was up on his dash [by] two-tenths. But of course, at that point, it started to get slippery. It’s the same for everybody but unfortunately he made quite a big mistake.”
McLaren secured the front row for Sunday’s race, having outperformed Red Bull in five of the last six races. During this period, Perez scored just 15 points while his teammate Max Verstappen amassed 119.
Horner acknowledged the team’s awareness of Perez’s points shortfall. “We’re very aware that in the last six races, Checo’s only scored 15 points and it’s unsustainable. They will catch us unless it changes and Checo is very aware of that.”
Horner emphasized the importance of improving Perez’s performance to avoid falling behind rivals.
“The problem we have is that the other teams’ drivers are up there in pairings. You’ve got two McLarens, you’ve got two Astons there today. You’ve got two [RBs] out there today. So we can’t afford to have this big delta between the two cars.”
Despite the setback, Red Bull decided against changing Perez’s power unit after his Q1 elimination, which would have resulted in a pit-lane start.
“Hopefully if there’s nothing that warrants a penalty, like an engine or a gearbox change, then we’d aim to start from the grid,” Horner said.
