What Christian Horner’s ‘priority’ for Sergio Perez is after British Grand Prix qualifying mistake

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Sergio Perez went into qualifying with the pressure beginning to build on his Red Bull future.

The Mexican driver may have agreed a new contract for next season and beyond at Red Bull, but it’s not had the desired effect with his performances still way off what the team would expect.

Sergio Perez’s confidence appears to be at an all-time low and he was the only driver who couldn’t negotiate the changing conditions during qualifying for the British Grand Prix.

Heading into Copse on soft tyres, the track was still very slippery and despite not pushing as hard as he could heading into turn nine, the car wouldn’t respond as he would have liked and he went sailing into the gravel.

Christian Horner would have been praying that Perez could put in a strong performance, especially as he’s been struggling in qualifying throughout his time at Red Bull.

Instead, he could be seen looking physically frustrated on the pit wall once he discovered that his driver’s participation in the session was over with no hope of progressing through Q1.

Horner spoke to the media after the session, first to Viaplay and then via journalist Erik van Haren.

He shared what his priority is now for the Mexican driver and what he needs to do going forward with murmurings increasing about whether he’s even going to see out the rest of the season.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Sergio Perez’s life outside F1 from net worth to nickname

Christian Horner shares his Sergio Perez ‘priority’ after British Grand Prix disappointment

Speaking to Viaplay about the Mexican driver and the next steps Red Bull need to take, Horner said: “Our priority is to get Sergio Perez up to speed”

In a separate interview, he then added: “Nobody is more disappointed than Checo [Perez]. We can’t afford to go out in Q1. He needs a ‘big race’ tomorrow.”

Perez was understandably very disappointed after the session and knows what a difficult job he’s got on his hands to go from 19^th on the grid up into the points.

He said, via the Formula 1 website: “I messed up today and it hurts a lot because to let your team down that way is not nice.

“It will be hard to recover from the back of the grid but let’s see what we are able to do tomorrow, we must limit the damage and hope things go in our favour.”

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

Red Bull could have monumental decision to make on Sergio Perez during the summer break

There were already question marks over whether handing Perez a new contract when they did was the right decision considering that his form had begun to dip at almost exactly the same point of the season as it did last year.

It’s a trend that’s continued for three years now with Perez unable to get to grips with the car once the team begins to add new updates.

Unfortunately, unlike last season when Red Bull had such a huge advantage over the rest of the grid that Perez’s struggles didn’t really matter, this year a handful of teams have managed to close the gap and that’s left Perez in a precarious position.

He’ll also be feeling uncomfortable knowing that Red Bull have at least one driver in their academy who will feel they’re ready to step up to Formula 1.

Liam Lawson could easily step into an RB seat should Red Bull decide to promote either Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda.

Then there’s Isack Hadjar, who Red Bull offered to Audi for 2025 suggesting they think he’s on the cusp of being ready to race in Formula 1.

The summer break is coming at just the wrong time for Perez, who may have just three races left to save his seat.