Perez armored
After yet another week of rumors and discussions, also thanks to the knockout suffered by Sergio Perez in the first lap of the home race in Mexico City, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner wanted to say a probably definitive word on the line-up of the reigning world champions for the 2024 season. Interviewed at the microphones of Sky Sports F1 in the pit lane of the Brazilian circuit of Interlagos, Horner categorically excluded the suggestion of joining Fernando Alonso’s team and instead tried to once again give confidence to Perez.
“Nothing surprises me these days – commented the boss of the Red Bull wall – there are so many rumors in the paddock that almost anyone gets compared to our car. However, I can guarantee that Fernando will not drive with us next year. He obviously has a contract and we have never discussed the possibility of him driving for us. Checo is going through a difficult time, but the whole team supports him. We know what he is capable of and he will be our driver in 2024. We just want him to return to the form he showed in the first half of the year, up until Monza“. No space next to Verstappen therefore, not even for Daniel Ricciardo: “I’m sure he’s giving his all to aim for Red Bull in 2025. In 2024 he will be an AlphaTauri driver. Seeing him fit again in Mexico was nice. Both in qualifying and in the race he was fantastic“.
At Interlagos to cancel 2022
Meanwhile, Red Bull had fun during PL1 of the Sao Paulo GP to play hide and seek. In fact, both Verstappen and Perez did not carry out the qualifying simulation with the soft tyres, instead using only the hard compounds and thus slipping away from the top positions, even in 16th and 18th place. A very specific action plan that the Milton Keynes team has decided to adopt taking inspiration from difficulties faced in the Sao Paulo GP last season. “We learned a lot from last year – Horner said – and we hope to have improved the structure. We tried to save as many tires as possible for the two races because we think that could be a factor“
He is also causing some fear in the paddock tire resistanceafter two punctures suffered in PL1 by Hamilton and Alonso: “I think there were only their two punctures – commented Horner – We’ve heard that Hamilton has found some debris in his tires and we’ll have to keep an eye on the situation, but it’s an added bonus that we saved a set of tires in the session. Mexico? For Perez it was a shame because he was only 1 and a half tenths behind Max in qualifying and had been competitive all weekend. He was trying to take the lead in his home race and you can’t blame a driver for trying. He has been competitive so far, but qualifying will be different. It will be important to prepare as best as possible for the race and today there could also be wet qualifying“.
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