Sergio Perez told to ‘turn up in Barcelona’ by Christian Horner as pressure mounts

Christian Horner and Sergio Perez.

Sergio Perez has been told by his team boss Christian Horner to “turn up in Barcelona” as Red Bull need both drivers to score big points.

Although it seemed after the opening five rounds of this year’s championship that Red Bull’s rivals were on track for another drubbing, the season took a notable turn in Miami.

Red Bull need Sergio Perez to be ‘up there scoring as he was’

That Sunday, Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen to the chequered flag on merit in a straight fight after a Safety Car, the results since reading McLaren-Verstappen-Ferrari-Verstappen.

As for Perez, he didn’t once feature on the podium in those four races and in fact crashed out of the last two, Monaco and Montreal, both of which he started from 16th place on the grid.

That extended his run of qualifying sessions outside of the top ten to three, putting the onus on Verstappen to score big points for a team suddenly facing a championship fight.

Red Bull team boss Horner has told his Mexican driver that he needs to “bounce back” at the Spanish GP.

“Checo just needs to forget Canada 2024 and turn up in Barcelona and bounce back,” said the Briton. “We know that he’s very capable of doing that and I’m sure he’ll come back fighting hard in Barcelona.

“We were lucky that Ferrari didn’t score any points – they could have taken a lot of points out of us in the Constructors’ – so we need him up there scoring as he was in the first four races.”

Perez’s latest woes come in the midst of his new Red Bull deal, the driver handed a new contract that was confirmed after his Monaco crash and before his Montreal one.

“I think it was a combination of factors,” Horner said of his driver’s troubles. “We had an issue in qualifying that contributed a little to it, and plenty for him and the team to look at to get him back into that window as we head back to Europe.

“I think he obviously struggles with when the car isn’t behaving well, he struggles more to adapt. It perhaps takes him longer, and not having the running on Friday [in Canada] you end up on the back foot.

“So I think that’s something we’re looking at collectively with him to say ‘OK let’s come back strong in Barcelona.'”

Sergio Perez’s deficit to Max Verstappen laid bare

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Red Bull will introduce new parts for the RB20 at the Spanish Grand Prix with the Barcelona circuit dubbed a “wind tunnel” by 1996 World Champion Damon Hill.

The perfect circuit on which to see exactly how any parts fare, it’s also round one of 2024’s first triple-header.

“It’s all about iterations and of course you have to look very carefully where you bring your upgrades in through the year,” Horner said.

“We’re close to the top of the curve, so you get into a law of diminishing returns, but there will be subtle upgrades over the summer months… It’s a ‘possible.'”

Red Bull lead the Constructors’ Championship with 301 points to Ferrari’s 252 while Verstappen is 56 points up on Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ standings.