Horner refuses to rule out Perez Red Bull axe

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has refused to rule out the prospect of Sergio Perez being axed before the end of the year.

Perez's form has dipped to such an alarming extent that the reigning constructors' champions are in danger of finishing third by the end of the season, resulting in the loss of millions of pounds in revenue.

The Mexican's latest performance in his home country over the weekend was shocking as he failed to make it out of Q1, and from 18th on the grid, made a basic error of lining up outside of his pit box, earning a five-second penalty.

Although Perez fought his way up to the edge of the points, he became embroiled in an on-track squabble with the driver who may yet replace him at Red Bull in RB's Liam Lawson. With heavy damage to the car, Perez finished last of the 17 classified drivers.

"Checo had a horrible weekend," said Horner, speaking to media, including RacingNews365. "Nothing's gone right for him this weekend.

"But he knows Formula 1 is a results-based business, and inevitably, when you're not delivering, the spotlight is firmly on you."

Red Bull facing 'difficult decision'

Reiterating that such a level of underperformance means "there is always going to be scrutiny on that", Horner indicated that Red Bull has seemingly done all it can to aid Perez.

After starting the season with four podiums in the first five grands prix, Perez has failed to finish in the top three in the last 15 races, resulting in Red Bull falling to third in the constructors' standings, 54 points adrift of McLaren.

"As a team, we need to have both cars scoring points, and that's the nature of Formula 1," said Horner.

"It [the scrutiny] is constant. It's always there. From a team's perspective, we're working with him as hard as we can to try and support him.

"We've done everything we can to support Checo, and we'll continue to do so in Brazil next weekend, but there comes a point in time we can only do so much."

Although Perez has a contract for 2025 that was signed in early June, when definitively pressed on whether the 34-year-old would finish the season with Red Bull, Horner shied away from a positive response.

"Look, as I just said, that scrutiny is always going to be there," asserted Horner.

"There comes a point in time when difficult decisions have to be made. We're now third in the constructors' championship.

"Our determination is to try and get back into a winning position, but it's going to be a tall order over these next four races."