After an extremely disappointing Formula 1 season, Red Bull Racing pulled the ripcord and fired Sergio Pérez early despite his current contract. At least that’s what everyone thought so far. Team boss Christian Horner now described the situation completely differently.
When asked whether Sergio Pérez was fired by Red Bull, Christian Horner said in the “talkSPORT” interview: “No, it’s a little different.”
“Sergio was with us for four years and in the first three years he played a big role in the team. (…) He just had a really tough season this year. We sat down last week and decided that “It’s better for both sides if he gets out of the car, spends time with his family and finds out what he would like to do,” explained the team boss.
Pérez, Horner continued, will continue to work for Red Bull in the future, but in a different role. “He will do some show runs for us next year,” announced the team boss. However, it is not yet officially clear what extent this ambassadorial role will ultimately have for the Mexican.
Horner: Pérez wasn’t having any fun anymore either
According to Horner, removing Pérez from the Formula 1 cockpit was ultimately the only right decision – for both sides. “He didn’t enjoy having to withstand this pressure and expectations every week either,” said the Brit.
From a team perspective, there was also no alternative to the decision. “He was 280 points behind his teammate, we lost the constructors’ championship by over 70 points. He knew that he hadn’t achieved what he himself and what we as a team needed. We had a conversation about this among adults.” , Horner assured that there was no bad blood between the parties.