CHRISTIAN HORNER MAKES SERGIO PEREZ DEMAND AS 'HEADSPACE' QUESTIONED AFTER SPANISH GP

Christian Horner has suggested that Sergio Perez 'needs to get back on form' after a worrying performance at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Mexican racer's 'headspace' was also placed into question.

The 34-year-old was awarded a contract extension ahead of the race in Montreal two weeks ago but has failed to react with improved performances.

Perez was only able to qualify in P8 but was relegated to 11th on the grid because of a three-place grid penalty that carried over from the Canadian Grand Prix. From there, he was unable to make up notable ground.

The former Sauber and Racing Point driver was able to recover to finish in the position in which he qualified, but that will be of little consolation as he heads to Austria without a top-seven finish in his last four Grands Prix.

Assessing his driver's struggles, Horner told Sky Sports F1: "If I'm not wrong we have scored the most points as a team, so as long as we keep doing that, the constructors' continues to look healthy.

"Sergio had a great start to the year. We just need him to get back to that form that he had in the first four or five races. we know he can do it. It's just getting him into the right headspace to deliver."

Even though Perez is now 108 points behind team-mate Max Verstappen in the Drivers' Championship standings, Horner was of the opinion that Sunday's result was, in isolation, not a terrible one.

"We put him on a three-stop and it worked out," he explained. "He passed Gasly on the last lap. He will take quite a bit of confidence out of that race.

"Theoretically we said eighth was the best he could do when you look at all the sims and he achieved that. We do need to get him more in the mix."

2024-06-23T15:27:29Z dg43tfdfdgfd