Christian Horner praises Sergio Perez for ‘best-ever’ qualifying at the Japanese GP behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen

Sergio Perez has got off to a decent start during the ongoing 2024 season.

Christian Horner praises Sergio Perez for ‘best-ever’ qualifying at the Japanese GP behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen

Christian Horner and Sergio Perez (Via: Imago)

The Japanese Grand Prix qualifying session saw Max Verstappen take pole, followed by teammate Sergio Perez. The pair were only separated by just 0.066s, the Mexican was on it throughout the qualifying session and thus, secured his best-ever starting position for the Japanese GP.

After the event, the Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner praised Sergio Perez for his performance. Horner added that the Mexican maximized the result and that everyone was pleased with the front-row lockout by the drivers.

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Sergio Perez really put in a stellar final lap during the Q3 session.

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It is Checo’s best-ever qualifying here, so we’re really pleased to have both cars on the front-row, It was another stunning lap by Max but I think the race could be a little closer tomorrow, but it is a great start to the weekend.

Christian Horner said in an interview with Viaplay

Perez seems to have really stepped up his qualifying performances to match his dominant teammate, Max Verstappen this season. With the race being tomorrow, it will definitely be interesting to see how the 34-year-old will lock horns against his Dutch teammate.

Christian Horner shares an insight into possible challenges during the race in Japan

The Red Bull’s RB20 seems to be in a pretty good operating window following its upgrades this weekend. However, Christian Horner believes that the race pace that their competitors possess is very strong and therefore, he has indicated that Red Bull will be wary of it tomorrow.

Christian Horner
Christian Horner (Via: IMAGO)

Horner believes the change in Japanese GP‘s normal schedule from September or October in recent years, to April now will make things tricky during the race. The Brit genuinely feels that the weather conditions during tomorrow’s race could play a part in deciding which team comes out on top.

I think we've understood the issues, but I think we saw that the race pace is more varied [heading into the race], and in these cooler conditions, how the tyres behave is going to be a challenging factor, but I am sure it is going to be an interesting race, and I am glad to be starting on the front row.
Christian Horner said in the same interview

The 50-year-old added how tomorrow’s Grand Prix will definitely be interesting due to the possible strong race pace from Ferrari and McLaren. With Lando Norris starting in P3, it will be intriguing to see how his race pace will compare comparison to the Red Bulls.

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