红牛计划“坐下来”塞尔吉奥·佩雷斯会谈底片ative ‘spiral’ intensifies

Christian Horner will sit down with Sergio Perez after his wretched Qatar Grand Prix with the team boss admitting his driver’s latest slump is causing “frustration” at Red Bull.

On a weekend in which Max Verstappen wrapped up the Drivers’ title and then went on to win his 14th grand prix of the season, Perez left the Lusail circuit with a single point on the board.

Qualifying down in 13th place as a result of track limit violations in Friday night’s qualifying, the Mexican driver was involved in a multi-car crash in Saturday’s Sprint Race, before going on to finish the grand prix in 10th place.

Red Bull vow to support Sergio Perez after ‘frustrating’ Qatar weekend

Incurring not one but three time penalties during the race for exceeding track limits six times, Perez dropped three points to Lewis Hamilton in Qatarin the battle to finish runner-up behind Verstappen.

And unless he finds his form, and soon given Formula 1 will next embark on a triple-header, Horner’s worried P2 could be on the line.

“I think we really need to sit down with Checo because we know what he’s capable of and he’s not hitting that form at the moment,” said the Briton. “We desperately need him to find that form to keep this second place in the championship.

“So, it was frustrating that he’s only come out of the weekend with one point and I think he could have, even starting from the back of the grid, there was an opportunity to score heavily today or decently.

“But we’ll support him as much as we can because there’s the triple-header coming up. There’s a huge amount of points with Sprint races as well.”

Scoring just five points in the last three race weekends, it has been suggested that Perez has hit yet another slump, his second of this season.

Asked whether it’s the car or a mental issue, Horner replied: “I think when you get into a bit of a spiral like that, the two things become intertwined. And I think you just need to sometimes take your foot off, put it on the floor, stop the merry-go-round, and just go back to basics.

“And that’s what we do. We all know what Checo is capable of, and we want to support him to get back into a position where even as near ago as Monza he was finishing in second place to Max.”

PlanetF1.com建议

The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings after the Qatar GP

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Horner wary Red Bull’s driver pairing ‘more varied’ than rivals

With “traditionally” the arm around the shoulder has been “the best way of supporting” Perez, Horner admits Red Bull need the driver to perform especially as Red Bull’s rivals are expected to close the gap next season.

Pointing to Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren’s evenly-matched driver pairings, he says Red Bull need the same from Perez.

“Obviously, he’s probably putting that pressure on himself,” he said. “But the most important thing for us is winning both championships, we’ve done that. Then what’s next best thing after that would be to have the drivers first and second.

“You can see Mercedes have pair, McLaren, Ferrari have a pair that’s quite tight between the respective drivers. And I think we had that at the earlier point of the year. But as the season has gone on, it’s got to become more, more varied. And we just need to get Checo back to the best form that he’s capable of.”

He added: “In highest echelon it’s a mental game as much as a physical game. And I think that Checo has mentioned that he’s working with a coach in that area. And I think that’s what we need to unlock with him to give him his confidence.”

Red Bull team boss downplays talk of driver swap

Perez is also under pressure from other drivers withDaniel Ricciardo and even Liam Lawson tipped to replace himnext season if he doesn’t up his game.

“The frustration is that we know what Checo is capable of doing,” Horner added. “And of course last year and this year he has contributed significantly to the Constructors’ Championship, and I think that we desperately want to find that formula as a team.

“We can’t afford to have a big split because, as you would expect the grid continues to concertina next year we need both drivers delivering at the top of the game.”

Pressed as to whether that could lead to a mid-season driver change next season, Horner replied: “As I say, we’re going to give all the support we possibly can for Checo to find his form.

“You guys will beat him up enough, I’m sure, but we really want to see him achieve what we know he’s capable of.”

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