Horner- Pérez 'cost Red Bull dearly' but had a 'good start' to 2024

Horner’s Verdict: Pérez’s Early Surge Ends in Costly Downfall

09/02/2025

Red Bull battled hard to salvage Pérez’s season after a strong start, but mounting struggles ultimately proved costly in 2024.

Christian Horner refuses to blame Sergio Pérez for his very poor 2024 season. The Red Bull team principal highlights that the Mexican driver had a strong start before collapsing and points out that it’s impossible to know how other drivers would have fared in the same situation.

“It’s always easy to look back in hindsight, and it’s impossible to know what someone else would have done in that car,” Horner told PlanetF1. “I mean, Sergio started the season very well. Second in Bahrain, second in Jeddah, and extremely quick in Japan, which is an ultimate driver’s circuit.”

“From Monte Carlo onwards, his season tailed off, and from that moment, we lost too many points. We won more races than any other team last year by a significant margin and secured as many pole positions as McLaren.”

“This is something we tried to understand, and we worked very hard with Sergio to address some of the issues he was facing. But it proved very costly in terms of points lost in the Constructors’ Championship.”

The Briton insists his team did everything possible to help Pérez during the 2024 season, but to no avail: “Look at what Sergio has done for us over the past four years. We really wanted to try to help him turn things around.”

“He finished second in the World Championship in 2023, won five races in our car, and played a key role in the Constructors’ Championships in 2022 and 2023. He also contributed to the Drivers’ title in 2021. So there was loyalty in trying to support Checo. But, you know, unfortunately, it didn’t materialize.”

Red Bull’s Costly Gamble: Pérez’s 2024 Collapse Reviewed Red Bull’s Costly Gamble: Pérez’s 2024 Collapse Reviewed

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2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Race Results

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
57
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
+0.895s
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
+8.481s
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
+12.773s
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
+15.135s
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
+17.413s
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
+18.423s
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
+19.826s
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
+20.448s
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
+22.473s
Pierre Gasly
11
PIERRE
GASLY
+26.502s
Yuki Tsunoda
12
YUKI
TSUNODA
+29.884s
Esteban Ocon
13
ESTEBAN
OCON
+33.161s
Oliver Bearman
14
OLIVER
BEARMAN
+40.351s
Liam Lawson
15
LIAM
LAWSON
47 DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto
16
GABRIEL
BORTOLETO
47 DNF
Fernando Alonso
17
FERNANDO
ALONSO
34 DNF
Carlos Sainz
18
CARLOS
SAINZ
0 DNF
Jack Doohan
19
JACK
DOOHAN
0 DNF
Isack Hadjar
20
ISACK
HADJAR
0 DNF
F1 CALENDAR 2025
Race
Date
Chinese Flag
Chinese
Shanghai International
23 Mar
Japanese Flag
Japanese
Suzuka Circuit
6 Apr
Bahrain Flag
Bahrain
Sakhir desert
13 Apr
Saudi Arabia Flag
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street
20 Apr
United States Flag
United States
Miami
04 May

2025 FORMULA 1 DRIVERS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
25 Points
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
18
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
15
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
12
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
10
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
8
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
6
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
4
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
2
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
1

2025 FORMULA 1 CONSTRUCTORS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1
McLaren
27
2
Mercedes
25
3
Red Bull
18
4
Williams
12
5
Aston Martin
8
6
Sauber
6
7
Ferrari
5
8
Alpine F1
0
9
Haas F1
0
10
Racing Bulls
0
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