Red Bull chief makes bleak Sergio Perez admission for future hopes

Perez, Horner, Red Bull, Miami, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

Sergio Perez

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Red Bull chief makes bleak Perez admission for future hopes

Christian Horner admits that Perez won't win the Drivers' Championship with 10 races remaining.

Jenny Craig

Sunday 6 August 2023 09:12

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has admitted he doesn't believe that Sergio Pérez can beat his team-mate Max Verstappen in the 2023 Formula 1 drivers' championship.

After 13 rounds this season, Verstappen leads Pérez in the standings by a massive 125 points.

At the start of the season it seemed fair game between the Red Bull pair. After the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, they were both tied on number of wins, but with Verstappen still leading going into Miami.

Pérez's change in form

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Speaking after the Belgian Grand Prix, Horner conceded it was unlikely that Pérez could overturn Verstappen's dominant form to win the title.

“I think Checo knows that apart from a disaster for Max, this championship is out of his reach.”

Pérez looked to have found confidence in the car, and took pole in Miami, while an issue for his team mate in qualifying meant the championship leader would only start ninth on the grid.

A charge to the front from Verstappen led to an overtake on Pérez for the win, which he took convincingly, despite starting much further back.

Since then, the Dutchman has dominated the sport, winning an impressive eight races in a row, just one win behind four time world champion Sebastian Vettel's all-time record.

But with Verstappen's mighty run came a not so great streak for Pérez. After his pole position in Miami, Pérez failed to reach Q3 an unfortunate five times consecutively.