Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has urged Sergio Perez to up his game after a disappointing outing at the Singapore Grand Prix, Afrosport reports.
The Mexican driver finished in the final points spot in 10th having started in 13th place and spent most of the first half of the race behind Williams rookie Franco Colapinto before being stuck behind Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg in the second half of the race.
Speaking on Perez’s performance in Singapore, Horner said: “Checo, he was stuck around Hulkenberg for basically 30 laps. Yeah, I mean, Checo had a good first lap. He qualified out of position, and then he just really struggled to overtake.
“He was struggling a little for traction in the areas where you want the traction out of Turn 3 and onto the back straight. But, yeah, you know, that was what he could manage.”
The Singapore heat 🔥 called for the backwards cap and shades combo 🧢😎#F1 || #SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 pic.twitter.com/BGQyhpIZXZ
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) September 24, 2024
Red Bull further slipped to 41 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ championship and Horner wants to see Perez do much more in the coming races.
“I think that we need to have two drivers firing on all cylinders,” he added.
“Checo had a good weekend [in Baku]. He had a tough weekend [in Singapore]. We need to put some weekends together where you can see where McLaren are putting two drivers on the podium. It’s those big points that really make a difference.
“So, you know, we need to make sure that Checo goes as far off the field as we can get it, in terms of finding the right direction.”
The Formula 1 paddock will next head to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the United States Grand Prix on October 20.
