Christian Horner believes that Sergio Perez will grow to be more relaxed behind the wheel amid the increasing deficit to Max Verstappen in the championship standings.
After the opening handful of rounds, the Red Bull duo were narrowly split in the Drivers’ Championship as they took two wins apiece in the opening four races.
However, Verstappen has taken three consecutive grand prix victories while Perez has endured a more challenging run.
In Monaco, he failed to score after lining up at the rear of the field, while he was eliminated in Q2 in Spain, only to recover to fourth place on Sunday while Verstappen cruised to the win.
There’s now a 53-point deficit between the pair at the head of the standings – which Horner believes will play into Perez’s favour.
“I think if you look at the points now, there’s a big split between the two of them,” Horner told Sky F1.
“If anything, that should take the pressure off him. He has nothing to lose now and he just needs to relax, he can breathe out and just drive like we know he’s capable of, like he did in Azerbaijan and some of the early races this year.
“I think today was a good recovery from him and it will give him confidence as we head to Montreal.”
Verstappen dominated Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix and took maximum points from the event ahead of the upcoming round in Canada.
Horner says that no driver in the world would’ve been able to challenge Verstappen during the 66-lap race.
“Being Max Verstappen’s team-mate, there’s not a driver out there, I believe, that would’ve beaten Max in that car today,” Horner said.
“He’s up against a driver that’s on the top of his form. That’s very tough. Checo, mentally, it’s a really tough thing to deal with.
“But now, there is that separation in the points and that may take the pressure off him a little and the expectation that he’s putting on himself, he needs to let go of that and be free to drive.”
