Red Bull boss Christian Horner has warned Sergio Perez that the side’s Formula 1 rivals “will catch us” unless he improves amid a Q1 exit at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Perez seemed to have turned a corner with Red Bull’s latest updates as he delivered a productive practice outing to be two-tenths behind team-mate Max Verstappen.
But although he was on course to secure a passage through to Q2, Perez made another mishap as he lost the rear going into Turn 8 and span straight into the barrier.
Improvements elsewhere resigned Perez to a second successive Q1 elimination and he’ll start down in 16th place as his ongoing plight continued at the Hungaroring.
“We haven’t debriefed yet but obviously he’d set a time that was comfortably in the top 10,” Horner told Channel 4.
“Then the rain started to come, he was up on his dash [by] two-tenths.
“But of course, at that point, it started to get slippery. It’s the same for everybody but unfortunately he made quite a big mistake.”
Perez’s latest spiral has seen him contribute a sparse 15 points across the previous six rounds at a time when McLaren has emerged as a genuine match to Red Bull.
With McLaren pipping Verstappen to lockout the front row in Budapest, Horner has admitted that Perez’s troubles are becoming more detrimental to Red Bull’s hopes.
“We’re very aware that in the last five [six] races, Checo’s only scored 15 points and it’s unsustainable.
“They will catch us unless it changes and Checo is very aware of that.
“It’s going to be tough for him to change that from 16th tomorrow. But we’ve got to aim to be in the points again.”
Horner acknowledged that even Red Bull’s sister team, RB, managed to progress both cars through into the top 10, with Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda advancing.
“The problem we have is that the other teams’ drivers are up there in pairings,” he added.
“You’ve got two McLarens, you’ve got two Astons there today. You’ve got two [RBs] out there today. So we can’t afford to have this big delta between the two cars.”
But Horner is optimistic that Perez should be fit to take up his starting position on the grid, having taken new power unit elements at Silverstone at the previous race.
“Hopefully if there’s nothing that warrants a penalty, like an engine or a gearbox change, then we’d aim to start from the grid,” he concluded.
