Horner congratulates Perez for his resilience

Sergio Perez finally takes a breath. The Mexican driver made his comeback on the podium during the sprint in Brazil. After an early retirement in his home race and several underperformances, Checo turned things around. During the qualification for Sunday’s race, the Red Bull driver wasn’t lucky. Oscar Piastri’s yellow flag hindered his fast lap, and he only obtained the 9th fastest time.

However, Perez completely released the pressure during the sprint. He achieved the 2nd fastest time in Q2, then the 3rd fastest lap in the final session, and finally, a 3rd place finish after 23 laps of the format. His pace was interesting, and he managed to regain the position that George Russell had stolen from him.

Relieve the pressure

Sergio Perez is facing tremendous pressure this season. The dominance of Red Bull is such that few people, especially fans, accept mistakes and underperformances. A few weeks ago, Christian Horner had claimed that the Mexican’s place for 2024 was assured, however, that was before the bad weekend in Austin and the big mistake in Mexico.

After this sprint, the 33-year-old driver should gain a bit of confidence. By releasing some of this pressure, he should be able to rely on this performance as a reference for the end of the season. One of his main strengths is that when one thinks he is depressed, he manages to rise and question himself, said Christian Horner on Sky Sports at the end of the sprint at Interlagos. He knows how to show great resilience and we saw that today.

Red Bull does not hold Mexico accountable

The blatant off-track incident by Sergio Perez in the first turn did not play in his favor. While he was already struggling in his recent races, and some leaders, including Helmut Marko, were putting pressure on him, the Mexican did not put himself in a good position. However, Christian Horner stated that the team did not hold it against him.

“He was quick in Mexico and it was a shame that it didn’t work out for him,” explained Horner. “It was one of those days where you were either going to be a hero or come away empty-handed. That day, it was a day with nothing. So we said, ‘Checo, turn the page, it’s done, you can’t change anything. Take the positives from this weekend and apply them in the race next week.’ He responded to us right away starting from the sprint.”

With a better sprint performance than Lewis Hamilton, the Mexican driver gets a little respite in the drivers’ standings. Perez has a 24-point lead over the six-time World Champion.