Formula 1 Canadian GP
Horner: Perez needs to rebound from "horrible" weekend
Team principal Christian Horner has urged Sergio Perez to immediately rediscover his form after Red Bull “got away with it” at the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.
Sam Hall
Edited: Jun 10, 2024, 12:37 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
By virtue of Max Verstappen’s hard-fought Montreal F1 victory and the retirements of both Ferrari drivers, Red Bull more than doubled its constructors’ championship lead over the Scuderia to 49 points.
Read Also:
But this was not helped by Perez, who had failed to escape Q1 on Saturday and then struggled to make progress in the grand prix before crashing and retiring on lap 51 of 70, leaving his points total for the last three races at just four – a sum bettered by 10 drivers in the same period and level to that of under-pressure Daniel Ricciardo.
“It was a horrible weekend for Checo and obviously, we picked up some damage,” Horner told Sky Sports. “He’ll need to come back strong in Barcelona.
“Thankfully, Ferrari had a shocker and didn’t get any points so that let us off the hook somewhat, but we need both cars scoring. We got away with it today but we need Checo back up there where he was at the beginning of the year from Barcelona onwards.”
Backing the Mexican – who recently signed a fresh two-year contract to remain at Red Bull to the end of the 2026 season – to turn things around, he added: “What we see with Checo time and time again is that when you think he’s on the ropes, he bounces back. He’s a tough racer and he’s a tough character and it hurts him more than anybody else.
“He’ll be determined to come back and show everybody the form we know he’s capable of and that he showed in the first four races of this year.”
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524, spins ahead of Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524, at the start
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Perez’s nosedive in form has seen him drop to fifth in the drivers’ standings.
Reflecting on the difficulty of making progress on the drying Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, he said: “No, we were able to sort that out. I think today was just one line, it was so difficult to pass at times. It was only later in the race when the dry line started to open up, and early on it was just a matter of keeping it together.
“It has been a very tough couple of weekends. I think we will just regroup, put our heads down and learn from the weekend.
“On Saturday, we had a bit of an issue that prevented us from qualifying a lot higher – which we understood straight after qualifying, which is positive.
“Obviously, there is a long year ahead and I am sure that we will get to our form.”
But there was no excuse made for his crash, as Perez conceded: “That was just on me. I touched the wet part into Turn 6 and you couldn’t stop the car. It was completely wet. I touched the brakes and just couldn’t stop, so that was a bit unfortunate.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Hamilton says mistake-riddled F1 Canadian GP 'one of my worst races'
Next article Norris "should have won" F1 Canadian GP, "had enough time to box"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Sam Hall
Who is Franco Colapinto, Alpine's newest F1 driver?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Who is Franco Colapinto, Alpine's newest F1 driver?
The former F1 junior looking to rejuvenate his career in Japan
Super Formula
Super Formula
The former F1 junior looking to rejuvenate his career in Japan
How Williams’ 2024 campaign was dictated by its early heavy car and late crashes
Formula 1
Formula 1
How Williams’ 2024 campaign was dictated by its early heavy car and late crashes
More from
Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Cadillac’s F1 brakes are still a problem: ‘I had to lift and coast on lap two’
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Cadillac’s F1 brakes are still a problem: ‘I had to lift and coast on lap two’
“Am I confident? Probably not” – The unprecedented challenge Singapore is throwing at F1 drivers
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
“Am I confident? Probably not” – The unprecedented challenge Singapore is throwing at F1 drivers
More from
Red Bull Racing
How Geri Halliwell helped Christian Horner deal with fan hate
Formula 1
Formula 1
How Geri Halliwell helped Christian Horner deal with fan hate
Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?
Latest news
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 2 h
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
3 h
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 h
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe