Christian Horner speaks as Red Bull warned they've 'got to get Sergio Perez out'
Sergio Perez had another weekend to forget at the British Grand Prix.
Christian Horner has warned Sergio Perez that his current form is 'unsustainable' following his disastrous weekend at the British Grand Prix. The Mexican driver appears to be facing an uncertain future at Red Bull despite signing a new contract just a few weeks ago.
Perez has only scored 15 points in his last six races, leaving Red Bull with a vulnerable lead in the Constructors' Championship standings. They are currently 71 points ahead of second-placed Ferrari, while McLaren's resurgence suggests that a three-way battle could begin to take shape.
It was another disappointing weekend for Perez at Silverstone, with the 34-year-old beaching his car in qualifying and starting the race from the pit lane. He ended up coming home in 17th place and was lapped twice by the leaders, prompting Horner to issue a damning verdict.
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"He knows it’s unsustainable to not be scoring points," said the Red Bull team principal. "We have to be scoring points in that car and he knows that. He knows his role and his target and so nobody is more eager than Checo to get back and find his form again.
"Of course, Checo is under pressure. That’s normal in Formula One and when you’re underdelivering that pressure only mounts and he’s aware of that, he knows that and this weekend, just nothing’s really gone his way."
It comes after Jenson Button urged Red Bull to drop Perez before the end of the season in a desperate attempt to revive their Constructors' Championship hopes. He is thought to have several performance clauses in his new contract, meaning his deal could be terminated if they are not met.
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"This wasn’t just a terrible weekend, it was unlucky in a lot of ways as well," said Button, who was appearing as a pundit on Sky Sports. "This isn’t going to happen every race weekend. I mean they can’t let it go on forever.
"If at the next race he’s not scoring points then I think, soon enough, they’ve got to get him out of the car and put someone else in. It’s tough. I know it’s not a nice feeling for a driver, it’s horrible, but for them the Constructors’ Championship is important.”
Perez will have two weeks to mull over what went wrong at Silverstone before returning to action in Hungary later this month. It might be his last opportunity to convince Red Bull that he deserves to stay, with Daniel Ricciardo waiting in the wings to replace him if he is sacked during the summer break.