Christian Horner’s response to Sergio Perez’s Mexico GP shocker speaks volumes

Sergio Perez needs a strong result at the Mexican Grand Prix but qualified for his home race down in 18th place as he wilted under the pressure at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

Christian Horner said it was “massively disappointing” to see Sergio Perez wilt under the pressure in qualifying for his home race.

He will start the Mexican Grand Prix from 18th on the grid. It was Perez’s fifth Q1 exit of the 2024 season so far, but his first ever on home soil, much to the disappointment of most of those stood in the grandstands at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

In contrast, team-mate Max Verstappen was able to steer the other Red Bull onto the front row, beaten only by pole-sitter Carlos Sainz. Asked about what happened, team principal Horner was frustrated about that performance chasm between his two drivers.

He said: “We need to look into it, but the gap between the two cars is significant. Obviously, it is massively disappointing for him in front of his home crowd, but I am sure he will give it everything he has got tomorrow. He has a lot of work to do.”

Horner was naturally much more pleased with Verstappen’s work and predicted a fascinating race on Sunday. He added: “We are very happy with Max’s performance – he dragged every bit of performance out of the car, particularly having lost out on most of [Friday practice], to put it on the front row.

“Carlos is a quality driver and he has looked fast all weekend. His long runs yesterday looked very quick. It is a long run down to turn one so the start is important and it is going to be fascinating. The margins are so small here with the balance, one minute you are in the window, the next minute you are out of the window. So I think the face could be really fascinating.”

Perez was glum after trudging from the pit lane to the media pen after the end of Q1 and spoke of his frustrating having wrestled with his uncompliant RB20 to no avail. “I just could not get on top of the car,” he lamented.

“I just could not stop the car soon enough. I was putting too much energy into the tyres while braking and that was the problem for me. If we are able to score some good points then it will be a tremendous effort – but it is going to be very difficult from the position we are in.”

Sky Sports F1 pundit Danica Patrick still believes Perez can redeem himself in the race, however. She said: “Sergio said he needs to get the most out of the car – I do not think we know exactly what that is. Is it Max’s level? Is that exactly it, or is it something different? Because [Perez] has not been able to get there.

“There is going to be an energy on Sunday, the crowd, there are already so many people here cheering for him. That will make a difference and, if he can get up to seventh or eighth, I think that will be a great progress day. He will need to build on that and have a good couple of races to finish the season.”