Sky F1 pundits disagree over impact of Perez F1 treatment

Ted Kravitz and David Croft disagreed over how Red Bull treated Sergio Perez during the 2024 season.

Perez and the security of his seat alongside Max Verstappen was the subject of intense debate throughout last year, and the Sky F1 pundits disagreed about how that was handled by the likes of Red Bull boss Christian Horner and senior advisor Helmut Marko.

While Kravitz believed Horner may look back on Red Bull's public treatment of the Mexican with some regret, Croft asserts that Horner had his 'hands tied' to an extent.

Kravitz: Perez could have been given a break

“I’m sure if Christian Horner could do this year again, I’m sure he’d say to Helmut [Marko] or maybe he’d say to himself, do you know what, I think we can give Checo [Perez] a bit of a break here," Kravitz said on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

“We don’t need to be mean to him, it’s not the stick, he doesn’t respond well to the stick, let’s give him more of the carrot and that’s the only way I marked him down.

“But clearly, he’s still the team boss of the year, no question.”

Croft: Horner not boss of the year

Croft however believed Horner did the right thing - and disagreed that the Red Bull stalwart was team principal of the year.

“See I think that’s where I would slightly disagree, he’s not team boss of the year.

“If you’re looking at the Helmut Marko situation and marking him down because what Christian tried to do behind the scenes was very much the right thing but he didn’t have the power to say to the brand and overturn what the brand wanted in terms of putting out statements.

“When a statement needed to be coming from the team straight away and at that stage Christian had his hands tied a little bit.”

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