Christian Horner feels Sergio Perez can overcome his struggles in qualifying after the Mexican missed Q3 for the fifth consecutive Formula 1 race.
Perez, who was compromised in Q1 by Valtteri Bottas’ red flag, charged through the order after a sluggish first stint to finish sixth at the 2023 British Grand Prix after starting 16th.
“He just needs to break it now, and I am confident he’ll do it in Budapest,” said Horner to selected media outlets, including Total-Motorsport.com, about Perez’s qualifying slump.
“Some of his moves in the race and one particular move into Stowe was quite stunning, and if you look at his pace in the last stint, he was right there.
“It’s frustrating for him that he’s having to fight back all the time, but he’s just got to sort his qualifying out, and, as a team, we’ll do our best to support him.”
Perez needs arm around him
Perez lost further ground in the championship race, with Max Verstappen taking his sixth consecutive victory and extending his championship over his teammate to 99 points.
But, Perez is 19 points ahead of Fernando Alonso, who finished seventh for Aston Martin at Silverstone.
“I think he’s the type of guy that just needs an arm around his shoulder and [to] work with him, and that’s what we’re doing,” said Horner. “We’re supporting him, we know we can do it, we know he’ll get back there.
“We’re just trying to make sure it happens as quickly as possible, at the moment, he’s still running second in the championship. I think he’s extended his lead over Fernando today.
“So, we’ve got a good car, but we need to make sure that we’ve got both cars in contention [for podiums].”
Where is the next F1 2023 race?
With the F1 circus finished at Silverstone, we move on to the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix which will be held at the Hungaroring, Budapest over the weekend of July 21-23.
