Christian Horner has labelled the Miami Grand Prix as the point at which Sergio Perez’s 2023 season crumbled, claiming that the Mexican driver’s form ‘disintegrated’ when the F1 paddock made its way back to Europe for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Perez announced his arrival in the title fight after following up his second win in the space of four races with a pole position in Miami, but despite starting ninth on the grid, team-mate Max Verstappen pipped him to the top step of the podium with a sensational drive.
This victory proved to be the first step on the road to F1 history for Verstappen. The Dutchman won the next nine races in a row to beat Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive Grand Prix victories from the 2013 season, effectively ending Perez’s championship hopes in the process.
During this run, Perez was forced to settle for scraps, and his form derailed even further after the summer break with costly errors in Japan, Qatar and Mexico igniting a debate about his immediate future with Red Bull. When the chequered flag waved in Abu Dhabi, he trailed Verstappen by 290 points in the standings.
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“The first four or five races he was very, very strong,” Horner told Motorsport.com. “And it was really after Miami that I think that was a big, psychological blow for him – losing that race. Then off the back of that, Monaco Q1, making a mistake.
“You know, confidence is such a vital thing in this sport and I think that that momentum that he built up – because his races in Saudi and Azerbaijan were truly outstanding – [disappeared]. I mean, in Azerbaijan he had the clean sweep with a sprint win and the Grand Prix itself.
“So, by the time we headed back into Europe, it started to disintegrate for him. And then there was sort of peaks and troughs. I mean he drove, for example, a brilliant race in Monza, made a great call in Zandvoort in the wet, [and] then unfortunately mistakes started to creep in as he put more pressure on himself.”
Horner did touch upon Perez’s return to form towards the end of the campaign. After a heartbreaking opening lap crash at his home race in Mexico, the 33-year-old rediscovered his consistency, finishing in the top four at each of the final three rounds of the season.
“But what was good to see is him pick his form up again at the end of the season,” Horner continued. “And, of course, to achieve second place in the championship – something he’s never done, something we’ve never done – to achieve a 1-2 finish.”
