“There comes a time when we can’t do much anymore”. The sentence, taken from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner's point about Sergio Pérez's race in Mexico, is worrying for the Mexican driver and is every driver's worst nightmare.
Pérez experienced in some ways a weekend totally opposite to that of Charles Leclerc in Monaco: the Monegasque had lived a real fairy tale by winning one of the victories he valued most in his home race, before set the table again in Monza, in the stronghold of Ferrari. Pérez undoubtedly secretly dreamed of such a return to favor in front of a Mexican public unconditionally won over to his cause. But few things could have gone worse.
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Out of the picture from qualifying
It all started with a poor performance in Q1 on Saturday during the qualifying session. 18e Helpless, Pérez's only hope was to put on a show by overtaking in the peloton or to wait for a hypothetical Safety Car at an opportune moment in the race to hope for a good result.
Instead, a false start costing him a five-second penalty in the pits, late pace at the back of the field and a collision with Liam Lawson characterized Pérez's Grand Prix Sunday.
The Mexican's poor performances are all the more remarkable as Max Verstappen achieves top-notch performances. But it could also be said that his absence is even more visible when the three-time World Champion is also having a difficult weekend, and Red Bull cannot count on its second driver to save what needs to be saved, particularly in the perspective of the constructors' world championship.
Horner is also losing patience
It was undoubtedly this weariness that overcame Christian Horner when he met the press in Mexico. After ardently defending Max Verstappen and his maneuvers against Lando Norris, the contrast was particularly marked when the Briton bluntly agreed that “difficult decisions” were going to have to be taken into the Red Bull clan in the face of this chronic absence of Pérez, whatever the reasons.
“I think Checo, unfortunately, started out of position on the starting grid, so he got a penalty for that”Horner said. “His first round was good. His departure was good. Then with the damage he took with Liam, he lost about 70 charge points with a hole in the side pontoon and half the side of the floor missing. »
“Checo had another horrible weekend and there was no question of missing points”Horner admitted when asked the obvious question about the driver's future. “Nothing worked for him this weekend. He knows that Formula 1 is a results-based business and that inevitably, when you don't deliver, the spotlight is on you.”he added.
“Formula 1 is a results-based business”he repeated, “and when someone is not up to the task, they will always be scrutinized. As a team we need to make sure both cars score points. This is the very nature of Formula 1.”
“Making difficult decisions”
Asked about the obvious pressure on the Mexican, he replied: “She is constant. She is always present. From a team perspective, we're working with him as hard as we can to try to support him.”he added, seeming to recite a refrain heard tirelessly in Grand Prix after Grand Prix. “We have done everything we can and we will continue to do so in Brazil next weekend, but there is a point where there is only so much you can do. »
“There comes a time when you have to make difficult decisions”however, he warns this time. “We are now third in the constructors’ championship. Our determination is to try to get back into a winning position, but the task will be difficult over the next four races. »
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