Christian Horner’s blunt Sergio Perez response after Red Bull RB20 apology claim

Sergio Perez has not been on the podium since the Chinese GP

Following Sergio Perez’s revelation some engineers apologised for not listening to him about the RB20’s issues, Christian Horner stood his ground, after all, Max Verstappen was still dominating.

The first half of this campaign has again between a tale of Red Bulls with Verstappen claiming victories and Perez struggling to keep pace with his team-mate.

Red Bull’s RB20 issues have caught up with Max Verstappen

While the Mexican driver’s form dipped at the Miami Grand Prix with Perez failing to claim a podium finish in 13 races, Verstappen continued winning races until he too was hit by the RB20’s balance issues.

Fuming over the team’s Hungarian Grand Prix updates before weeks later lamenting that retaining the titles is “not realistic”, Verstappen has not one a Grand Prix in eight weeks with his lead in the Drivers’ standings whittled down to 52 points.

With Red Bull’s issues have caught up with the Dutchman, Perez said in Singapore that “some of the engineers after Monza came to me and did apologise” because now everyone is aware of the problems.

Horner was asked Channel 4 if up until now Verstappen has been out-driving the car’s problems.

Sergio Perez’s deficit to Max Verstappen laid bare

F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

He replied: “I think if we really delve deep into the data, we can actually see hints of it from Barcelona last year.

“And I think the problem is, Max’s talent is so good that he’s able to mask some of the issues, particularly on the way into corner entries and that’s where Checo has really struggled in comparison to his team-mate.

“When the downforce came off the cars in Monza, both of them had identical issues, and it really highlighted where the key issues were in the car.

“So, obviously Checo is more sensitive. But you know, I think if we can give them both a better car, they’ll both be in a better position.”

But pressed on what Red Bull not listening to Perez’s earlier complaints until such a time as Verstappen had the same issue says of the Mexican driver’s “worth” to the team, Horner said: “Well, this business is driven by the stopwatch.

“So of course Max was still dominating last year and wasn’t talking about the same issues as Checo.

“So, of course, your driver that’s where you take the most feedback. You’ve got a lot of sensors on the car, but it’s the feeling of the driver that you’re tuning the car to. And when one car is performing as it has been, that is what drives the development.”

With six race weekends remaining, three of which are Sprints, Perez is eighth in the Drivers’ standings on 144 points, 187 behind Verstappen.

Red Bull, meanwhile, have lost the lead in the Constructors’ Championship to McLaren where they trail the Woking team by 41 points.

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