Horner reacts as poor Perez form continues

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is hopeful that Sergio Perez's "confidence" has been boosted after finishing eighth in last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. 

Perez qualified in eighth but started in P11 due to a three-place grid penalty which carried over from the Canadian Grand Prix. 

The Mexican made slow progress and ended the race one minute behind Max Verstappen, who claimed victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. 

Despite being so far behind his team-mate, Horner is confident that Perez will have taken positives from the race in Spain.

"Before the race, simulation said that P8 was the optimum from 11th on the grid," Horner told media including RacingNews365. 

"So, he achieved that. We did it on a three-stop strategy. I think, I hope that he will take quite a bit of confidence out of that race. 

"And, hopefully take that into the next couple of weekends which are big weekends for him."

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'Difficult' recent races

Whilst Horner expects Perez to take positives from the Spanish GP, the driver himself described it as a "nightmare". 

The 34-year-old is enduring a struggle similar to the one he experienced in 2022 and 2023, two other seasons where, just like in 2024, he began in fine form. 

With McLaren potentially being quicker than Red Bull now, the Milton Keynes-based outfit needs two performing drivers for the apparant fight for the constructors' championship. 

"We need Checo in the mix, and he knows that and the team know that," Horner added. "And if he's on the back end of the top eight, you lose strategic options, whether you split your strategies and so on. 

"Checo in the first four or five races this year was fantastic, we just need to get him back into that headspace.

"I think that he's had a couple of difficult races, and things haven't gone his way and he's a confidence-driven driver.  

"I think that, hopefully, he'll have taken some [confidence], back into the points here, drove a decent race."