Red Bull ‘running one-legged’ as Perez pressure ramps up – Horner

Christian Horner is adamant Red Bull cannot continue to fight “one-legged” as the pressure continues to weigh on under-fire Sergio Perez.

The Mexican driver suffered another Q1 exit during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. To make matters worse, it was due to a session-ending crash for the 34-year-old, which brought out the red flag. He will start P16.

It is yet another mistake in a string of incidents for the six-time grand prix winner, who has suffered a considerable downturn in form since the opening rounds of the season – with a new Red Bull contract unable to arrest his plight.

Whilst Horner is set on “picking up the pieces” from that accident, he was clear that Perez’s current run of form must stop, despite Perez’s apologetic tone.

“Yeah, I think I’ve demonstrated that,” the Red Bull team principal replied when asked on Viaplay is he is a patient man regarding his under-performing driver.

“That was the last thing that he [Sergio Perez] or the team needed. So we’ll see. We’ll pick up the pieces, rebuild the car and see what we get tomorrow.”

However, the 50-year-old refused to be drawn into whether he needed to act on Perez’s lack of form: “Discussions like that will happen internally rather than through media, but obviously we can’t run one-legged.”

‘Hugely frustrating’ qualifying for Verstappen

On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Max Verstappen claimed third on the grid at the Hungaroring, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locking out the front row.

Horner felt that traffic prevented his lead driver from potentially ruining the McLaren party, with the Woking team taking its first qualifying one-two since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix -however, the Dutchman did not quite see it the same way.

“The McLarens were very quick,” Horner contended. “Great shame to lose Checo [Sergio Perez] in that first qualifying, but third on the grid is okay for tomorrow’s race.

“I think when it’s so tight, every hundredth of a second counts. So, of course, if you pick up any dirty air, then that’s hugely frustrating.”