What Christian Horner said before the Mexico City Grand Prix that leaves Sergio Perez’s future in doubt

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has a critical decision to make on the future of Sergio Perez.

The Mexico City Grand Prix should have been the perfect opportunity for Sergio Perez to impress in front of his home crowd.

However, Red Bull came into the race under significant pressure in the Constructors’ Championship with Ferrari and McLaren full of confidence.

Max Verstappen admitted Red Bull have bigger problems than Perez after the race, but Christian Horner will know that the 34-year-old’s poor form can’t continue forever.

Perez is now more than 200 points behind his teammate after finishing 17th and last in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

The Mexican driver was eliminated in Q1, only managing to set a lap time faster than Alpine’s Esteban Ocon – who started from the pit lane after changing parts on his car – and Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu.

Horner spoke to Sky Sports F1 ahead of the race and explained what Perez had to do from his lowly grid position.

Unfortunately for Perez, the race didn’t go to plan and he fell way short of expectations.

Sergio Perez failed to meet Christian Horner’s target at the Mexican Grand Prix

Asked on the grid before the race about both of his drivers, Horner said: “Yeah, look, Max, I think did a brilliant job yesterday, so it’s a long run down to turn one.

“Checo, he’s got a very busy afternoon, he’s 18th, he needs to be in the points by the end.”

Horner was then asked if Perez was given any advice before the race especially given his crash at the beginning of last year’s Grand Prix and Horner continued: “Look, I think it’s a different day and different conditions, so, we don’t know how these tyres are going to perform at this temperature, it’s quite a bit cooler.

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“Checo just needs to go for it and try and make sure he’s there at the exit of turn three.”

Journalist Jenna Fryer then spoke to Horner after the race in his press conference about Perez’s future and admitted: “Look, it’s a performance-based business.

“There comes a point in time that difficult decisions have to be made.”

Pressure continues to build on Sergio Perez despite Helmut Marko support

Perez was defiant about his F1 future after the race much to the surprise of some fans, expecting to be on the grid for next year’s Grand Prix in Mexico City.

Whether that’s actually going to be the case is another matter.

Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda are both attempting to prove to Red Bull that they should be handed a promotion for next season.

Lawson arguably came out marginally on top out of the trio when analysing their performances across the weekend.

Tsunoda was the fastest driver, but his crashes in qualifying and on the opening lap will count against him and only raise further questions about his temperament.

Helmut Marko supported Perez after the race, suggesting there were factors out of his control that ruined his race.

However, Ralf Schumacher believes Perez might not even be a Red Bull driver in Abu Dhabi when a torrid 2024 for the Mexican comes to an end.