Horner: Signing Perez deal early “obviously didn’t work”

Christian Horner admits that extending Sergio Perez’s Red Bull Racing deal for two years early in the season “obviously didn’t work.”

Perez’s new contract was announced on June 4 after a run of podiums early in the season, but immediately after a first lap accident in Monaco that in retrospect signalled a downturn in his fortunes.

At the time the team was in some turmoil and there were question marks over Max Verstappen’s future.

Horner that signing Perez brought continuity and stability, and it was widely interpreted that it was about keeping Verstappen onside with a team mate that he knew well.

However since then Perez has struggled and it’s widely expected that he won’t continue in 2025 – in which case the team is likely to have to pay a hefty price for him not to race.

Asked by this writer if he had any regrets about concluding the deal so early Horner rather than keeping the team’s options open admitted that it hadn’t worked.

“Obviously, at the time Sergio was performing extremely well,” he said. “I think he had, what, 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.

“That’s just life sometimes. And I think Checo, you have to look beyond this year for the contribution 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 more is frustrated with the results than Checo, from his own high standards. And 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.”

Horner hinted that there’s a scenario where Perez himself decides to stop.

“There’s huge respect for Checo within the team, and nobody likes to see him struggling like the way he has,” he said. “And we’ll sit down and discuss things after the season.

“We’ve got two talented drivers in VCARB, so but until the situation is clear with Sergio, what he wants to do, everything else is purely speculation.”