Horner lays out Red Bull DEMANDS as driver's seat at risk

Christian Horner has laid out Red Bull’s demands as Sergio Perez’s seat becomes at risk once again.

The Mexican star was tipped to be replaced prior to the summer break, after suffering consecutive Q1 exits and DNF’s at the British and Hungarian Grand Prix.

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However, Red Bull opted to retain Perez in the hopes that his performances would turn around, but the Mexican now has just 41 points from his last 12 grands prix.

The decision to keep Perez left some in the F1 paddock baffled, due to their brutal nature when axing young drivers, and their brutal decision-making surrounding Daniel Ricciardo's future with their sister team.

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Is Sergio Perez’s Red Bull future in jeopardy?

Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon were sacked from Red Bull for failing to perform on Max Verstappen’s level, yet Perez still remains at the team.

When asked by Martin Brundle how Red Bull ended up with a weaker driver line-up despite having brought through so many stronger drivers, Horner identified how demanding the team’s system was, and the pressure Perez was under.

"I mean we’ve given a great opportunity to so many youngsters over the period of time, many of who you’ve mentioned there," Horner said on Sky Sports F1 at the Singapore GP.

"The Red Bull system, it does demand results and demand performance and of course Max is delivering, Checo has been underdelivering this year.

"Last year he did a good job or a good enough job to finish second in the championship and be constructors’ champion.

"We’re having to look further down the road, we’ve got some great talent, you know we’ve got Liam Lawson on the bench," Horner added.

"We’re not quite sure looking at the likes of [Franco] Colapinto and [Ollie] Bearman and [Kimi] Antonelli, is he at that level? Only time will tell.

"We’ve got Isack Hadjar in Formula 2 that’s been until recently leading that championship, we’ve got a very exciting young talent that I’m particularly excited about in F3, Arvid Lindblad, so we’ve got depth in our junior programme."

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Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

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