Christian Horner F1 News: Red Bull boss in fiery exchange with TV presenter at Dutch GP

Christian Horner speaks to media ahead of a race — Photo: © IMAGO

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Horner in FIERY exchange with TV presenter at Dutch GP

The Red Bull boss was not a fan of the line of questioning

By Rhys Thomas.

Sunday 25 August 2024 20:00

Red Bull chief Christian Horner was involved in a fiery exchange with a television presenter at the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend.

Ahead of Sunday's race, Horner had been talking to British broadcaster Sky Sports about his team's current struggles.

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His star driver Max Verstappen has won the three races at Zandvoort since the Dutch Grand Prix was revived in 2021 but bemoaned the lack of pace in his RB20 on Friday.

Meanwhile, his team-mate Sergio Perez, was - as he has been virtually all season - further behind still, and was the subject of Horner's defensive interview.

Christian Horner is team principal at Red Bull Racing

Sergio Perez has been in dire form in 2024, though has retained his seat

What does Christian Horner think about Sergio Perez?

Whereas Red Bull coasted to consecutive constructors' championships in 2022 and 2023 such was their pace advantage, in 2024 Perez's shortcomings have allowed McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes to significantly close the gap.

Rumors before the summer break indicated that the 34-year-old could be replaced, but Horner shut down those reports by confirming Perez would stay for at least the remainder of the season.

In his chat with Sky, Horner emphasized how Red Bull needed both cars fighting at the front to help their championship bids, which prompted Pinkham to question why Perez was kept on, given that he had not been offering Verstappen much support against rivals.

"Well, who would you put in?" Horner immediately replied, to which Pinkham argued that she was not the Red Bull boss and that it was not her decision.

"Well, you ask all the questions," retorted Horner.

Natalie Pinkham (right) is a regular host and pundit for Sky Sports F1

Pinkham tried a different avenue to probe the team principal and asked whether Red Bull retained Perez because there was not a suitable replacement available.

"No, look, I think that we know what Checo [Perez] is capable of. We know that at the beginning of the year, you know, he was scoring - what, four podiums in five races?

"If we can get him back into it. I think he's just had, you know, a lack of confidence. And has ended up in a bit of a spiral. I think he's had a bit of a reset, hopefully, over the summer break.

"We know that there's tracks that he's won at coming up. We've got Azerbaijan, where he's won both sprint race and Grand Prix on the same weekend. He's won another fantastic race in Singapore against Charles Leclerc in mixed conditions. He's been very quick at Monza.

"This Zandvoort hasn't been his best circuit. So of the four races coming up before the next mini-break, I would say this is his most challenging one."

In one final challenging question, Pinkham queried whether it was 'crucial' for Red Bull to keep Perez until his home race, the Mexican Grand Prix. The driver brings in sizeable sponsorship money from his North American home country.

Horner was adamant that was not the reason, though: "No, no, absolutely not. It's all about performance. So, you know, for us, we've got the two drivers that we believe in our pool of drivers are the most capable of giving us the best results.

"If there was a doubt in that, then we would have changed it."

With Perez stated to keep his seat through until the end of the year, he will need to improve his performance if Red Bull are to retain the constructors' championship.

Max Verstappen Christian Horner Sergio Perez Zandvoort