Red Bull needs two drivers "firing on all cylinders", warns Christian Horner following lacklustre performance from Sergio Perez.

Like the Ferrari pair, the Mexican's problems began on Saturday when he failed to make it out of Q2 and qualified 13th for the following day's race.

Like most he cited a lack of grip and also "something going on with the tyres" that prevented him qualifying higher up the grid.

Though he made up a number of positions at the start as a result of the incident involving the Williams pair and Tsunoda, his subsequent progress was mainly the result of the pit stops and consequently he spent much of the evening running behind Nico Hulkenberg, in much the same way as he had earlier struggled to pass rookie Franco Colapinto.

It was a world away from his battling performance a week earlier in Baku, and while his teammate was fighting to prevent a McLaren 1-2 and keep Red Bull in the title fight, Perez was only to contribute a single point to the kitty.

Christian Horner was not impressed, and as Daniel Ricciardo appears to have had his last outing for RB, Perez's long-term future is once again in doubt.

"He was stuck around Hulkenberg for basically 30 laps," sighed the Red Bull boss. "I mean, Checo had a good first lap, he'd qualified out of position, and then he just really struggled to overtake.

"He was struggling a little for traction in the areas where you want the traction out of Turn 3 and onto the back straight," he admitted. "But, that was what he could manage today.

"We need to have two drivers firing on all cylinders," he added. "He had a good weekend last weekend. He had a tough weekend this weekend.

"We need to put some weekends together where you can see where McLaren are putting two drivers on the podium. It's those big points that really make a difference.

"We need to make sure that Checo goes as far off the field as we can get it, in terms of finding the right direction."

The Mexican however put much of the blame on the team's strategy, believing it should have used the same aggressive strategy as Ferrari did with Carlos Sainz.

"Looking at it, when you see where Carlos finished we probably lost an opportunity to make more progress and undercut more people. Once we went on a similar tyre age behind Nico, it was pretty much it."

It's almost certain that Liam Lawson is to step into the second RB alongside Tsunoda, but looking ahead to next year, and possibly even the remaining six races, Red Bull could take a gamble and put the New Zealander in the second Red Bull.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by moomoo, 26/09/2024 22:51

"How many is that now? Curious whether they've tested his hearing - something seems to be amiss....."

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2. Posted by ian_w, 26/09/2024 21:01

"@ffracer, I can only speculate on motive, but "any publicity is good publicity", springs to mind.

There could well be some advantage to playing the beat up, underdog fighter role. Latin America has plenty of experience as being dismissed, considered to be second class. I'd speculate Checo draws more eyeballs and coverage now when he's struggling than when he was running a consistent and distant second to Max.

Maybe if he drank more Red Bull he could catch Max ?"

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3. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 26/09/2024 19:02

"They should run Perez in USA and Mexico and then decide. I would not swap Riccardo for Perez.

Riccardo is too aloof and not serious. He doesn't stick with it if it's not going his way.

Red Bull is in a tough spot and blaming it all the 2nd driver is not helping them turn this around."

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4. Posted by ffracer, 26/09/2024 15:16

"@Ian-W: makes perfect sense... but then, and using your logic, why would Horner and Darth Marko, that would know all this intimately, would not want to infuriate Mr. Slim/AMERICA MOVIL or bite the hand that feeds them, literally by constantly flooding the media with their constant disappointment of Checo’s performance for almost the last two years now?! It’s like it’s their penchant to showcase at least one RB driver ‘in the stocks’, whipped and on display for all to see when found guilty of a bad performance and dragging out the execution... not the most prudent thing to do, infuriate your committed partners... and not the first time.

I thought last years RB team reveal of the Number 1 in Detroit was brainless and tasteless - they didn’t thank the reigning championship PU manufacturer Honda once - and whose power unit they’d all be using in 2023 and 2024! - and only gloated about their new venture with Ford. And after Honda made a grand gesture only months before...
"

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5. Posted by ian_w, 26/09/2024 11:03

"Marko and RB have themselves in a real bind now. Not even another 3 weeks is going to help them. Why, you ask?

While Dani Ric may be huge and widely loved in the US, we was effectively #2 on the #2 team and is most likely to be out for the USGP onwards as he's financially inconsequential, especially with Zac and his boys stealing the spotlight and TV coverage.

But Checo on the other hand, is the #2 on what has been the #1 team for the last 2 1/2 years. Checo"s prime sponsor, Reb Bull' Racing's seond most valuable (global valuation) sponsor (Honda is third, w/Oracle largest) and probably second largest financial contributor is America Movil (Telcel, Telmex, and Claro), via Calros Slim. America Movil brands are also a major sponsor of the Mexico GP.

Checo is hugely popular across Latin America. Carlos Slim knows that, Red Bull Racing knows that and Marko, Christian and RBR's accountant knows that. Expect Checo to remain where his is through Mexico, if not Brazil and the rest of the season as well, regardless of where he finishes. I'm sure Mr. Slim will find a way to show his gratitude to Mark and Christain for the favor. Also, would uou dare cross a man called "Mr. Slim" ? Not to mention the heckles Christian would get up and down the paddock (Toto, Zac) if they did release him now when, why not at the summer break when it could have made a difference to follow through on the threats?"

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6. Posted by ffracer, 25/09/2024 17:09

"This is absolutely brutal,agreed that something has to change.

Plan A: Swap Riccardo for Perez - I don’t think that Riccardo will do poorly with this last lifeline. He drove well at Silverstone test, will work well with Super Max and he wouldn’t have crashed with Sainz in Baku and he gets a proper send off if it doesn’t work. This isn’t about Riccardo, it’s about Perez hemorraging points for the constructors. Further, you keep loyal Perez in a RB, the RB VCARP and keep the legions of Perez fans at bay while keeping the associate RB sponsors content.
Plan B: Put Liam Lawson in the second RB if this doesn’t work by Mexico. "

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7. Posted by Team Hack, 25/09/2024 16:30

"I can't help feeling that as much as I like him, Ricciardo's time has sadly passed and the future is all these young guns coming through, Bearman, Colapinto, Antonelli,Lawson & Piastri.
All these guys are game changers.

I don't know how Perez has survived so long in his RB berth although there was (probably unfounded) rumours of a backlash in Mexico if he was booted.

Lawson should be put in there straight away as we know he is quick and appears to have the mental strength demanded of working alongside Max in the Red Bull pressure cooker..

We have a good bank of top level guys Albon,Norris,Russell,Leclerc,Sainz and of course Max,Lewis & Fernando and we need more of the same coming through.

But there is a need of a cull of journeymen towards the bottom end of the grid. "

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8. Posted by ClarkwasGod, 25/09/2024 15:46

"I'm sure the same people who called Vowles "stupid" for putting Colapinto into the Williams seat, would be saying the same, should Red Bull change Perez for Ricciardo, but they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I recall he posted outstanding times in the tyre test last year. "

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9. Posted by KKK, 25/09/2024 13:56

"I am certain that Ricciardo would have done a better job....One word for Marko : bring Ricciardo back !"

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Perez gets another wake-up call

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