Christian Horner set out the steps Sergio Perez needs to take to finally end his Formula 1 qualifying hoodoo.
Along with team-mate Max Verstappen, the Mexican has the quickest car on the grid. However, while one Red Bull driver is dominating the championship, the other continues to stutter.
He finished sixth at the British Grand Prix after making up several places in the race. Another awful qualifying session meant he started towards the back of the grid and was never in podium contention.
It marked the fifth race weekend in a row at which Perez has failed to qualify in the top 10. With that statistic clearly a concern, Perez said after the Silverstone race that he would be getting straight back to the grind.
He said: "I’ll start working tomorrow in the simulator to try to fix the Saturday issues because the race pace is there, I just need to start at the front. It's been difficult to manage the crosswinds, lack of temperature mostly when the car is low on fuel."
Ever the staunch defender of his own drivers, team principal Horner backed Perez to break this cycle next time out at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He said: "He just needs to break it now, and I am confident he'll do it in Budapest.
"Some of his moves in the race and one particular move into Stowe was quite stunning. And, if you look at his pace in the last stint, he was right there. It's frustrating for him that he's having to fight back all the time, but he's just got to sort his qualifying out. And, as a team, we'll do our best to support him.
"I think he's the type of guy that just needs an arm around his shoulder and work with him, and that's what we're doing. We're supporting him, we know we can do it – we know he'll get back there.
"We're just trying to make sure it happens as quickly as possible. At the moment, he's still running second in the championship. I think he's extended his lead over Fernando [Alonso] today. So, we've got a good car, but we need to make sure that we've got both cars in contention [for podiums]."
Perez's ongoing struggled have led to some called for the Mexican to be replaced by popular reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo. However, Horner remains insistent that a "fairytale" return to a Red Bull race seat is not on the cards for the Aussie.
"It's not something that we're planning, that's for certain," the team chief said. "It was right to give him the opportunity this year to remain within the team and keep him around the sport. I think it would have been a loss to the sport for him just to disappear."
