Horner admits confusion over Perez's loss of form

Christian Horner has said Sergio Perez's drop in performance over the course of the season is "confusing" for Red Bull to understand.

Heading into the summer break, the Mexican driver faced the axe from the team after his dismal run of results, which stretches back to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May.

However, a seeming last minute u-turn saw the Milton Keynes squad keep faith in him for the final 10 rounds of the year.

Over the past eight rounds, Perez has scored a mere 28 points. Over that same period, Max Verstappen has scored 116.

With McLaren having reduced the gap in the constructors' championship to just 42 points, Red Bull will need Perez to turn his season back around.

The 34-year-old began 2024 well, supporting his team-mate en route to three one-two finishes from the opening four rounds, but his dip in form has been pronounced, and it something that puzzles his team principal.

At the round prior to the shutdown, the Belgian Grand Prix, the six-time grand prix winner qualified well, starting on the front row alongside Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, but struggled during the race, finishing seventh.

Checo's [Sergio Perez] had a tough run over the last few races," Horner told media including RacingNews365.

"What's so confusing for us is that the season started so well with him and then tailed off.

"He did a super job in qualifying. Obviously, we need to go through and understand the issues in the race. We've got the time to do that and analyse that and work with him."

Despite Red Bull opting to leave its driver line-ups unchanged, Horner was open about the fact he "didn't envisage" the result at Spa-Francorchamps, given where Perez qualified.

"Starting on the front row, our objective really was - pre-race we felt that third and fifth would be achievable," the 50-year-old stated.

"We achieved the fifth, but we didn't achieve the third. So we obviously need to go through the data, understand where his [Perez's] loss of pace was."