Christian Horner claims Red Bull ‘suffered a lot of damage’ from Sergio Perez’s dismal Canadian GP weekend

Sergio Perez has only scored four points in his previous three outings.

Christian Horner claims Red Bull ‘suffered a lot of damage’ from Sergio Perez’s dismal Canadian GP weekend

Sergio Perez and Christian Horner (via IMAGO)

The Canadian GP weekend was one full of highs and lows. On one hand of the grid, George Russell claimed pole in his Mercedes ahead of Max Verstappen. On the other hand, Sergio Perez qualified an underwhelming P16. This streak of bad luck continued in the race, where the Mexican spun the RB20 totaling it completely. This urged his boss, Christian Horner to lament his weekend as a write-off and claimed his team to have suffered a lot of damage.

Red Bull was the favorite to win both titles entering 2024. Moreover, for the initial few rounds, the RB20 seemed to be in another league. However, as the season has progressed, the Austrian giant has seemingly hit a development ceiling and has fallen back into the clutches of its rivals. However, Max Verstappen won the Candian GP in torrential conditions showcasing the power of the RB20.

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But to Red Bull’s dismay, Sergio Perez has been unable to extract the same level of performance as his teammate.

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It was a terrible weekend for Checo[Sergio Perez]. And of course we suffered a lot of damage. So he will have to hit back in Barcelona.
Christian Horner said in an interview with Sky Sports

This led to Christian Horner asserting that it was a terrible weekend for the Mexican overall. Firstly, he was knocked out in Q1, then even in the race things did not look to be any better as he was stuck in the backmarker region.

Furthermore, to rub salt in his wounds, he totaled his car after hitting the barriers and had to retire from the 70-lap race, which earned him a three-place grid penalty for Barcelona. This underwhelming showcase of Mexican’s abilities had a significant blow on Red Bull as Horner claimed the team to have suffered huge damage.

Why does Red Bull need Sergio Perez to perform?

As stated earlier, rivals have caught up to Red Bull in terms of performance. This has led to alarm bells going off in Milton Keynes and has piled up pressure on both of its drivers to give their all. Regardless of the urgency of the situation, only one driver has been able to cope with the pressure, leaving the Austrian marque handicapped in the constructor’s standings.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez(via IMAGO)

The Brit explained why Perez needs to get back to his form.

The differences are extremely small this year. He knows what is at stake. We need him at the top of his game, because among the constructors there are three teams on our heels. So as a team we will be at an extremely high have to operate at a high level, including Perez.
Christian Horner said in an interview with Sky Sports

The 50-year-old claimed the differences in performance to be marginal. Moreover, McLaren and Ferrari have caught them in the development race and have been making strides in the constructor side of affairs. Thus, requiring Perez to dismiss such bad weekends and back to his stellar form again.

Fortunately for Red Bull, Ferrari had a terrible weekend in Canada. This saved the Austrian outfit from losing ground to the Italian squad in the constructor standings and helped it extend the lead to 49 points before moving on to Barcelona.

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