“He simply must preserve doing what he is doing,” says Purple Bull boss of Sergio Perez, as hypothesis over 2025 driver market continues.
Lewis Hamilton’s shock transfer to Ferrari already assured that this yr’s version of ‘who goes the place’ can be significantly thrilling – particularly when the road up in Bahrain was precisely the identical because it had been a number of months earlier in Abu Dhabi.
However then got here the Horner saga and the potential for a emptiness at Purple Bull additionally.
In fact, even earlier than he’d claimed his fourth pole of the season and third win, no one actually purchased into the ‘Max to Mercedes’ or ‘Max to Aston Martin’ nonsense, however there remained the query mark over the second seat at Purple Bull.
Although Sergio Perez lastly received his act collectively and helped his workforce to its first ever 1-2 within the championship final yr, the Mexican’s kind over the course of the ’23 season had been erratic, and it was clear that the Austrian outfit wouldn’t tolerate extra of the identical.
Apart from a blip in Bahrain, his qualifying kind this season has been higher, and on Saturday he gave his teammate a run for his cash, whereas on Sundays he has claimed three seconds, together with a powerful drive in Japan.
Consequently, Christian Horner insists that the foremost consider whether or not Perez retains his seat for a fifth season is the Mexican himself.
“His confidence is excessive, he is very targeted on the job at hand, and he is snug within the workforce,” stated the Briton at race finish on Sunday. “He is aware of he is out of contract for subsequent yr, and it is his seat to lose, he is very fashionable within the workforce, and he is began the season in the absolute best method.
“He simply must preserve doing what he is doing,” he added.
This weekend Perez has been significantly feisty, lacking out on pole by simply 0.066s, and having to recuperate after being undercut by Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc switching to a one-stop technique.
Dropping to sixth after his first cease, the Mexican needed to make some daring strikes in his bid to get again to the entrance together with successive passes within the infamous 130R on the Mercedes pair.
“There have been a few moments the place, I have to admit, I had my eyes shut as he went into 130R,” stated Horner. “‘Do you have to do it there? Cannot you wait till the straight?’ He did not seem like he had three youngsters when he made that transfer!”
Regardless of the earlier hypothesis over Verstappen’s departure that individual little story has gone quiet of late whereas (F2 star) Kimi Antonelli is one among a number of drivers linked with Mercedes, together with Carlos Sainz.
“The entire driver market appears to be very early this yr,” stated Horner. “All people appears to be speeding round and we’re solely 4 races into the yr.
“We’re not in an enormous rush,” he added, “and clearly there is a vital quantity of curiosity in our vehicles, as you’d count on, however Checo has the precedence and it’ll be a number of extra races but earlier than we begin to consider subsequent yr.”
“Final yr, Japan specifically was Sergio’s worst race,” Helmut Marko subsequently instructed Sky Germany. “Every little thing went incorrect then, so I believe it is significantly satisfying for him.
“You’ll be able to see he can do it,” he added. “However maybe it additionally performs a task that subsequent yr’s contracts are at stake, this yr a lot sooner than traditional. That additionally appears to be very motivating.”
Try our Sunday gallery from Suzuka right here.
