As Sergio Perez Continues to Struggle, Christian Horner Admits Not Having an Ideal Driver Pairing

While season 2022 saw some of the best of Red Bull, this season saw one of its aspects lose all of its sparkle. And it was the team’s second driver, Sergio Perez. Following the season opener, it became clear that the campaign would feature only one battle at the front, involving Max and Checo. However, Verstappen quickly established a huge lead over Checo, who continued to struggle after initial successful races. Perez’s poor performance has now drawn criticism, this time from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. In a recent interview with Autosport, the Briton admitted Red Bull does not have ideal pairings like those of its rivals.

Since Max Verstappen sat in the RB car, only Sergio Perez survived as his co-pilot. However, it appears that his passion for beating Verstappen has caused him to commit blunders. Checo made a series of errors in his quest to establish the fastest time in a single-lap race, resulting in him failing to qualify for Q3 in five consecutive races. As a result, the Mexican driver has lost all confidence in himself.

Now, after 17 races, the team has won both championships, though in order to fill in the remaining missing puzzle in Red Bull’s adorned cabinet, Checo must finish the season in the P2 position. This will see the Austrian outfit fully dominate the season. This is the precise reason why  Milton Keynes has been pushing Sergio Perez to improve his game.

Amid Sergio Perez’s ongoing struggles, Christian Honer speaks on Red Bull’s drivers’ pairing

Last year, Sergio Perez was a huge contributor to the team’s points total, although this year has been a one-man show by Max Verstappen. The Dutchman not only won his driver’s title but also contributed to his team winning the championship. While indicating Perez’s bad performance, which was even more evident in the last three races where he received the penalties, Horner has commented about the impact of the team’s driver pairing.

 

While talking to Autosports, the Briton outlined how Red Bull has lost a driver pairing. Besides this, the 49-year-old also compared the situation of his team to McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes’ lineups. He said, “You can see Mercedes have a pair, McLaren have a pair, Ferrari have a pair that are quite tight between the respective drivers. I think we’ve had that at an earlier point in the year. But as the season has gone on, it’s become more variant.”

After winning both titles, the team is now ranked first in the constructors’ championship with 657 points. Moreover, in 17 races, the Milton Keynes team has only lost one in the Singapore Grand Prix. However, with McLaren’s recent redemption and back-to-back double podiums, it appears that Red Bull might be under threat to receive some competition in the upcoming season.

Will McLaren’s resurgence threaten Red Bull’s dominance?

Mclaren faced the greatest hurdle possible at the start of the season. However, the squad observed immediate improvements after upgrading the Norris MCL60 during the Austrian GP. Later, when those changes applied to Piastri’s car, points made their way more easily for McLaren. Since then, the team has earned seven podium finishes. Moreover, after the 2021 season, the team scored its first double podium in Japan, followed by two more double podium finishes – one in the sprint and the other in the main Qatar GP.

Their advancements are now posing a significant threat to Red Bull. With Norris and Piastri entering the main GP from P10 and P6, respectively, the pair’s primary goal would have been to accumulate as many points as possible. Eventually, when Hamilton and Russell collided at turn one, the door was opened for the McLaren guys to advance. However, after the safety car was removed from the racetrack, an accurate analysis of the race pace was revealed.

According to Formula Stat, Mclaren posted the quickest average lap times with race winner Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. After 29 laps, the MCl 60 was only 0.195 seconds per lap slower. Even Mercedes George Russell was only 0.567 seconds slower each lap than McLaren. When it comes to Ferrari, the team has done an excellent job of managing tire wear. However, in order to catch Mercedes, Charles Leclerc managed to keep his SF-23 barely 0.852s behind the McLaren liveries. Hence, looking at McLaren’s improvement, it won’t be a surprise if the Woking-based squad poses a strong challenge to Red Bulls in the coming season.