Red Bull boss pinpoints moment Sergio Perez’s Formula 1 title dream collapsed

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has now pinpointed the exact moment where he feels Sergio Perez’s dream of winning the Formula 1 drivers’ title in 2023 collapsed.

The 33-year-old started this season in a true battle with Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen for the championship. Perez won two of the opening four Grand Prix, plus the first Sprint for the year. But the wheels fell off the wagon as Verstappen ran away for his third straight title.

Verstappen secured the drivers’ championship in Qatar after Perez crashed out of the Sprint. The 26-year-old came second to Oscar Piastri around the Lusail International Circuit. But the job was done after Perez made contact in a three-wide incident also involving Esteban Ocon.

Verstappen beat Perez to the 2023 F1 drivers’ title with ease

Perez was 184 points behind Verstappen after the Sprint at the Qatar GP with six Grand Prix and two Sprints remaining. He even now trails the Dutchman by 266 points ahead of the Las Vegas GP. Verstappen has won all but one of the last 16 Grand Prix, as well as in four Sprints.

The Dutchman’s record-breaking dominance started at the Miami GP this May, despite Perez starting from pole position. Verstappen only qualified in P9 after failing to set a time in Q3 as a red flag thwarted his second run, having also aborted his first flying lap after running wide.

Horner pinpoints the moment Perez’s F1 title dream ended

Verstappen made light work of carving his way through the field before beating Perez to win the Miami GP. He was comfortably faster than the Mexican, especially on older tyres during the middle of the race. It made his pass for the win on Lap 48 inevitable after a late pit stop.

Now, Horner has admitted that Verstappen winning the Miami GP was ‘brutal’ for Perez and the start of his title dream collapsing. The Guadalajara native arrived in the USA on the back of winning the Azerbaijan GP and Sprint. He also held off Verstappen to take the Grand Prix.

“I think there was a decisive moment this year, which was probably in Miami, where Checo had, if you like, an open goal,” Horner said, via quotes by RaceFans. “He’d won two races in Azerbaijan and Saudi, and you could see his confidence was high.

“And I think that Max winning that race, having been caught out by a red flag in qualifying, starting down in ninth and that he took the lead within a very short period of time, I think mentally that was quite a brutal one for Checo to deal with.

“And then on top of that, then came Monaco the next race, and then things compound. I think that Max is just relentless. He’s then just hitting aces every race from there onwards.”

Poor qualifying has been a bad theme for Perez in 2023

Perez endured the worst weekend of his season so far at the Monaco GP after crashing out of qualifying. It saw him start in 20th and last, and only finished in P16. He came home two laps behind race-winner Verstappen after damage following contact with Kevin Magnussen.

Poor qualifying became a theme for Perez after claiming P11 in Spain, P12 in Canada, P15 in Austria and in Britain and P13 in Singapore. He also crashed into Alex Albon in the Singapore GP before repeating the same crash in Japan. Perez T-boned Magnussen with a naïve dive.