Christian Horner has launched a staunch defence of Red Bull's decision to retain Sergio Perez for the remainder of the 2024 Formula 1 season – insisting the team has "the two best drivers" for the current car.
With team-mate Max Verstappen leading the drivers' championship and despite Horner admitting Perez has been in a "spiral" amid recent struggles, the team stuck by the Mexican and threw its support behind him during the summer break.
Perez was set for two key races in Hungary and Belgium to show signs of his old self, but another qualifying crash in Budapest undid what looked like a more promising weekend and relegated him to fighting in another comeback race from 16th to seventh.
In a wet qualifying at Spa, Perez did well to take third in Q3, which became second on the grid after a penalty for Verstappen. But Perez was one of the drivers passed by the Dutchman on his way to take fifth and was relegated to a disappointing eighth at the finish - with the pair promoted up a place each when George Russell was disqualified from the win for an underweight car.
At the Dutch Grand Prix, where Perez is back in action for the first time since the decision was taken not to replace him, Horner offered an impassioned explanation for sticking with the beleaguered driver.
When asked by Sky Sports why Perez had been given more time, Horner replied: "Who would you change it for? Why would you change it?
"I think that we know what Checo is capable of. We know that at the beginning of the year, he was scoring, what, four podiums in five races. And if we can get him back into... I think he's just had a lack of confidence and has ended up in a bit of a spiral.
"We've got the best two drivers we believe in this car, so we have all the data from all of the drivers. So, we have that information, and if we felt that there was something better, we would have changed it by now.
"We believe that what we have is capable of defending the championship. It finished first and second in last year's championship. It finished first and third in the year before. And obviously won in 21 as well."
Perez once again struggled for pace at Zandvoort, finishing down in 12th during a rain-affected FP1 and remaining there after FP2, where he also had a couple of trips across the gravel.
Horner, though, feels there is a run of races after the Netherlands where Perez will have the best chance of finding his form.
"I think he's had a bit of a reset," he explained. "Hopefully over the summer break, we know that there's tracks that he's won at coming out, we've got Azerbaijan, where he's won both sprint race and grand prix on the same weekend.
"He's won another fantastic race in Singapore against Charles Leclerc in mixed conditions. He's been very quick at Monza.
"Zandvoort hasn't been his best circuit. So, of the four races coming up before the next mini break, I would say this is his most challenging one."
The Mexican GP takes place on 25 October, where Perez will be cheered on by a partisan crowd in front of a number of the Mexican sponsors his presence has brought into Red Bull.
Horner, though, said retaining Perez had nothing to do with the fact the race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was still to come.
"No, no. It's all about performance," he said. "So, for us, we've got the two drivers that we believe in our pool of drivers are the most capable of giving us the best results. If there was a doubt in that, then we would have changed it.
"It's a pressure business, and all the drivers know they're under pressure to deliver. And that's Formula 1, that's up and down the grid. So Checo. We know what he's capable of.
"When he's performing, we know what he's capable of delivering. We just need to get him back in that window, and we're doing the best that we can to give him the car that gives him that confidence.
"You're very quick to condemn Sergio. We're trying our hardest to give him the chance to rediscover that form. And he has to cope with all the pressure from the media, all the social media that piles in on the back of that.
"He's a driver that's capable of bouncing back, and we're giving him our full support, and want to see him respond."
Having failed to break into the top 10 on a difficult Friday, Horner will no doubt be demanding more from Perez heading into the business end of the race weekend.
