Horner has faith in Perez: 'He doesn't need Max'

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has reiterated his faith in Sergio Perez to secure second place in the Drivers' Championship.

Perez heads into the final two races of the season with 32 points between him and Lewis Hamilton.

The Mexican can seal the historic one-two for Red Bull, but only if he finishes ahead of the seven-time World Champion by over six points.

When asked if he thinks teammate Max Verstappen should help Perez secure second place, Horner tells Bloomberg: "I don't think he'll need the help from Max, to be honest.

"He just needs to finish either ahead or just behind Lewis [Hamilton] in Vegas to secure that second position.

"We're treating these remaining races as cup finals, that's how we've operated since winning the championship a few races ago in Qatar."

Horner: Perez question marks stem from media

Criticism has been levelled at Perez for his recent performances, which includes "shocker" outings at the Japanese and Mexican Grands Prix.

But Horner believes much of the speculation regarding his seat for the future has been as a result of speculation in the media, rather than what is happening behind closed doors.

"The only people that keep putting the question mark over him are you guys [media]," said Horner.

"Checo is going to be our driver next year and he's had a tough six weeks, but he's started to re-find his form.

"The race that he drove in São Paulo was very strong, his race in Austin was strong, he's finding his form again.

"Let's see what he can do over these next couple of races, but he will be our driver alongside Max [Verstappen] in 2024."