Handing Perez early contract extension “obviously didn’t work”, Horner admits · RaceFans

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has given a further indication they are preparing to part ways with Sergio Perez.

The team announced it had extended Perez’s contract by two years in June, after the Monaco Grand Prix. He finished the opening six rounds inside the top five, but his form nose-dived after then.

Perez has scored just nine points over the last seven rounds. Last weekend Red Bull fell out of contention for the constructors’ championship, which they have won for the last two years in a row.

Horner said he hoped to inspire confidence in Perez by extending his contract early in the year, but admitted it hadn’t worked.

“Obviously, at the time, Sergio was performing extremely well,” he said. “I think he had four podiums in the first five races.

“In order to settle his mind and extend that run of form for the rest of the season, we elected to go early, which obviously didn’t work. So that’s just life sometimes.”

Speculation over Red Bull’s driver plans for next year grew after it confirmed Yuki Tsunoda will test for them after the season finale. Horner confirmed the team will discuss Perez’s future at the team after this weekend’s race.

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“The test with Yuki has been planned for some time, it’s been on the cards for, I think three months or something like that,” he said. “So it’s something that’s been scheduled.

“Obviously Checo remains our driver, contracted to the team. Obviously this season hasn’t gone to anyone’s plan, particularly with Checo’s performance since Monaco, it’s been very, very tough for him.

“So inevitably, once we get this race out of the way, we’ll sit down and discuss the future.”

Horner admitted Perez’s performances have been “painful” for the driver at times this year, but said “you have to look beyond this year for the contribution that he’s made to our team.”

“He’s been a great team player, he’s a great person, he’s extremely popular within the team,” said Horner. “He’s worked very hard over the four years that he’s been with us. He’s played a vital role in the constructors championships that we’ve won, the five grand prix victories that he had in our car. It’s been the most successful pairing that we’ve ever had, finishing first and second in the drivers championship last year.

“So I think nobody more is frustrated with the results than Checo from his own high standards. That’s obviously been painful for him, for the team. We’ve worked tremendously hard to try and support him and will continue to do so all the way up until the chequered flag on on Sunday, where hopefully he can get a good result at the final race of the year.”

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