“No there was no other”- Christian Horner claims there was no one else to contest Sergio Perez for the Red Bull seat amidst several links.
A day later to Sergio Perez to Red Bull announcement, team principal Christian Horner has claimed that there was no one else to contest the Mexican driver.
Apart from Perez’s rumours, the Austrian side was also rumoured for hosting Sebastian Vettel’s homecoming before the German committed to Aston Martin, and then his compatriot Nico Hulkenberg when he gave brief appearances in 2020.
But Horner as mentioned above claimed that both were not even near to challenge Perez’s contention, as he gave some impactful performances this year.
“No. There was no other. There was a brief discussion with Nico Hulkenberg. But it’s really accelerated over the last month, I would say.” said Horner as per the Autosport.
Horner says it was Red Bull’s pure good luck that a top driver like Perez was a free agent at the very time when they were looking for the best candidate possible.
“It’s remarkable and, I mean, circumstances are a little crazy, aren’t they?” he said. “Nico Hulkenberg is another capable driver that should really have a seat in F1.
“But it was our good fortune that he [Perez] didn’t have a seat and that allowed us the time, without him having any other options that he could pursue as a race seat, to fulfil the season with Alex before making a decision.”
Nobody was there to fill the void from the youth system
This year Yuki Tsunoda was promoted to Alpha Tauri, after his exemplary performances in F2, apart from him, nobody else got the nod from the youth system in F1, even Jehan Daruvala, who is a bright prospect in the youth system.
Perez’s entry in the F1 team breaks Red Bull’s prolonged tradition of having their drivers from their own system, last time it was Mark Webber who was appointed from the outside of the system in 2007.
“There was no candidate on the junior program that was suitable,” said Horner. “So we decided to go outside of the program for the first time since 2007.
“It was impossible to ignore Sergio’s performance this year. I think he’s driven a great campaign. He’s been truly impressive, particularly in the second half of the season, and he’s earned the seat.
“We want to field the strongest team we can to take the fight to Mercedes, and you’ve got to do that with both cars. I think Sergio has got the necessary amount of experience, brings a wealth of knowledge to the team as well, and I think will be a good teammate for Max next year.”
