Failure to secure a one-two would be a bad look for Perez in a car as dominant as Red Bull’s. The team have won all bar one of the 18 Grands Prix on offer this season, while Hamilton remains on the hunt for his first race victory since 2021.
In the lead-up to the Mexican Grand Prix, Hamilton sympathised with Perez for the tough environment he feels Red Bull have put him in. “I think that his team is not helping him at all,” the seven-time world champion told Fox Sports.
“I know that Red Bull are made up of many members, but there are people who affect him psychologically and don’t support him. If I heard such negative things about myself every weekend, it would be very difficult.”
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Horner did not take kindly to the criticism ahead of qualifying on Saturday, reminding Hamilton that he had in fact challenged the standard of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mates earlier this year. “It’s very nice that Lewis has so much care and attention [for Perez] when he was questioning the validity of Max’s team-mates only a few weeks ago,” said the 49-year-old.
“There’s always rumours that are circulating in this paddock, especially when there’s very little to write about, but [Perez] has a great relationship with the team.
“He has a strong relationship with his team-mate [too], and we want to see him finish second in the Drivers’ Championship, which is something we’ve never achieved before — to have a one-two.”
The comments Horner was referring to were made by Hamilton last month, when the Brit said: “All of my team-mates have been stronger than the team-mates that Max has had. Jenson [Button], Fernando [Alonso], George [Russell], Valtteri [Bottas], Nico [Rosberg]. I’ve had so many. These guys have all been very, very strong, very consistent and Max has not raced against anyone like that.”
Perez is in the driver’s seat to tie up P2 in the championship, sitting 39 points ahead of third-place Hamilton with only four races to go. There would be no better place for the Mexican to extend his advantage than at his home Grand Prix this weekend.
Hamilton was pessimistic about Mercedes’ chances of causing an upset at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, calling his car’s performance in practice ‘night and day’ compared to last weekend’s promising contest in Austin.
