Sergio Perez is set for crunch talks with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner as he is urged to ‘desperately’ reverse his slump after struggling at the Qatar Grand Prix

• Sergio Perez is tied down at Red Bull until 2025 but is under increasing pressure 
• The under-fire Mexican took one point at the end of a dramatic Qatar Grand Prix 
• Team boss Christian Horner plans to speak to Perez about his staggering slump 

Christian Horner revealed he will hold sit-down talks with Sergio Perez over his Red Bull struggles, insisting the under-fire driver must ‘desperately’ rediscover his form. 

Perez endured yet another underwhelming weekend for the world champions in Qatar, having gifted Max Verstappen the title after crashing out of the Sprint and then taken just one point from the main event following his lowly 10th-place finish.

Hamstrung by an enforced pit-lane start after suffering damage from the three-man collision on Saturday, Perez was unable to surge through the pack like Mercedes’ George Russell and instead fell foul of track limits on several occasions.

This saw him hit with three time penalties, dropping him behind Zhou Guanyu.

With his team-mate Verstappen dominating this year in the untouchable RB19, the pressure is firmly on Perez to secure second in the drivers’ championship. Lewis Hamilton, however, may be able to close the gap over the remaining five races.

Sergio Perez is set for showdown talks with Red Bull boss Christian Horner over his struggles

The under-fire Mexican took just one point from the Qatar Grand Prix after a poor display

Horner has typically sought to defend his second driver despite his slump but after the drama in Lusail, he admitted he will now hold a frank discussion with Perez. 

‘I think we really need to sit down with Checo because we know what he’s capable of and he’s not hitting that form at the moment,’ the team principal said.

‘We desperately need him to find that form to keep second in the championship.

‘So, it was frustrating that he’s only come out of the weekend with one point and I think he could have, even starting from the back of the grid, there was an opportunity to score heavily today, or decently.

‘But we’ll support him as much as we can because there’s the triple-header coming up. There’s a huge amount of points with Sprint races as well.’ 

Perez crashed out of the Sprint race, handing team-mate Max Verstappen his third world title

Under pressure to defend his seat, Horner has urged Perez to ‘desperately’ reverse his slump

Hamilton spinning out of the race after a first lap tangle with Russell opened the door for Perez to all but put an end to the seven-time world champion’s hopes of leapfrogging him, but Horner was instead left to lament the missed opportunity. 

‘[Perez] has had a horrible weekend, the incident yesterday and then, unfortunately, the three penalties that he got in the race,’ Horner added.

‘Without those penalties, when you add 15 seconds to his time, suddenly he’s a lot further up the points scoring on a day that Lewis didn’t score, so it was a missed opportunity to really try and cement that second place.’

Currently, Perez’s tally stands at 224 points, with Hamilton just 30 behind him.

The action will next move across to Texas for the United States Grand Prix on October 22, with Perez set to be thrust back into the spotlight once again. 

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