Speaking of the decision to offer Perez a contract extension so early in the season, Horner replied: “Obviously at the time, Sergio was performing extremely well. I think he had four podiums in the first five races. And in order to settle his mind and extend that run of form for the rest of the season, we elected to go early, which obviously didn’t work. So, that’s just life sometimes.
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“And I think Checo [Perez]you have to look beyond this year for the contribution that he’s made to our team. He’s been a great team player. He’s a great person. He’s extremely popular within the team. He’s worked very hard over the four years that he’s been with us. And he’s played a vital role in the constructors’ championships that we’ve won, the five Grand Prix victories that he had in our car.
“It’s been the most successful pairing that we’ve ever had, finishing first and second in the drivers’ championship last year. So I think nobody is more frustrated with the results than Checo, from his own high standards.
“That’s obviously been painful for him, for the team, and we’ve worked tremendously hard to try and support him and we’ll continue to do so all the way up until the chequered flag on Sunday, where hopefully he can get a good result at the final race of the year.”
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