Not Having to Hide Face in Shame Anymore, Sergio Perez Spills Beans on Christian Horner’s Childish Ultimatum

While Max Verstappen keeps winning everything in 2023, the narrative has shifted to the curious case of Sergio Perez. A driver who was once considered pound-for-pound capable of matching Verstappen, he even showed glimpses of this in the very early parts of the season. However, now, it all seems to have evaporated. The Dutch lion is a country-mile clear of Checo, and this begs the question about the Mexican’s motivation.

It can’t be easy keeping a driver geed up day in and day out when he is being outclassed, both, on track and off of it by his teammate. What’s more, it would appear as though realistically, Perez’s championship bid has finally come to an end as he fights a virtually impossible bid to dethrone the incumbent king; Verstappen. But the elite man-manager that Christian Horner is, he’s found a way to keep Perez’s mojo running.

Christian Horner’s interesting tactics to keep Perez hungry

In a sport like Formula 1, mentality and focus are keys to success. And Perez has been lacking in both aspects for almost the entire season. But all of that changed at the 2023 Belgian GP, as Christian Horner has finally unlocked the secret to Perez’s success.

Perez was quoted by FormulaPassion.it as revealing, “He [Christian Horner] came before qualifying and said to me: ‘If you’re not in the top three, I won’t talk to you for the rest of the weekend’. So in the end he kept talking to me.” [translated via Google Translate]

Read More: Bearing the Brunt of an “Emotional Rollercoaster”, Lewis Hamilton Weighs In on Mercedes Contract Negotiations

Horner’s tactics seemed to have added a spring in Perez’s steps as he clinched a front-row start and 2nd in the race. But is it enough to keep him with the team for many more years to come?

Sergio Perez opens up about Red Bull’s future

It’s no secret that many drivers would give up almost anything to get that coveted second seat at Red Bull. That being said, even though the Mexican Minister of Defense may be resting on his Belgian GP laurels, he knows he has to pull his socks up if he wants to retain the seat for next year and beyond.

ESPN quoted him as saying, “From my side it doesn’t change anything because I drive for Red Bull, there’s not just Daniel [Ricciardo] out there. It’s Yuki [Tsunoda], it’s more than half of the grid would like to drive for Red Bull. So it doesn’t change anything.”

Will Sergio Perez win another Grand Prix this season?