Christian Horner contradicts Sergio Perez: Red Bull does not regret the split
(Motorsport-Total.com) - Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has contradicted his former protégé Sergio Perez. The racing team does not regret parting ways with the Mexican, even though his successor delivered even worse results alongside Max Verstappen, thus retrospectively elevating Perez's performance.
Perez criticized Red Bull in a podcast, accusing them of a lack of support when his results weren't as expected. Despite a contract extension, he said, they didn't publicly support him strongly enough, thus increasing the pressure that ultimately led to his dismissal.
"It would have been easy if the team had said, 'You know what? We have a driver signed for the next two years.' But that wasn't the case. From that point on, nobody talked about anything other than Red Bull, race after race," he told Desde el Paddock .
And: "I know that deep down they regret it very much, I have heard that from a very good source," said the 35-year-old.
But team boss Horner now firmly rejects this portrayal in an interview with FOX Sports Mexico : "Checo had a very difficult end to the season, if you remember. We felt it was the right moment to end a good time together," he clarified.
Red Bull at its lowest point. More Formula 1 videos
"He remains a good friend of the team, everyone likes him very much - but there are no regrets about not continuing," Horner emphasizes.
Perez drove for Red Bull for four years between 2021 and 2024 and helped Max Verstappen on his way to his first world championship title in Abu Dhabi in 2021. He himself finished runner-up in 2023, but only eighth in 2024, thus partly responsible for Red Bull's failure to win the team championship.
For 2025, the decision was made to promote Liam Lawson from the Racing Bulls, but the New Zealander was relegated to second place after only two races without scoring any points.
His successor, Yuki Tsunoda, has also been unlucky so far: he has only managed to contribute seven points in nine races, meaning Red Bull is already more than 250 points behind McLaren.
formel1
