Red Bull Racing F1 team principals Christian Horner and Sergio Perez have explained the joke behind the radio exchange at the end of qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix that sparked social media rumors.
Perez finished Q3 on Friday with the third-fastest time behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Horner immediately congratulated Perez on his performance, to which Perez replied, ‘Oh, now you can talk to me.
Then the Red Bull team principal said, ‘I’ll talk to you. I said top 5. you have done well! ‘ sarcastically.
The exchange caused a social media outburst, with fans whispering rumors of a rift between Horner and Perez.
After last Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, Perez opened up about the puzzling moment and what happened between him and his team boss.
“It’s a joke. He came in before qualifying and said, ‘If you don’t finish in the top three, I won’t talk to you for the rest of the weekend.'”
“So he talked to me for the rest of the weekend.”
Horner later added to this anecdote:
“I told him if he wasn’t in the top five, I wouldn’t talk to him, and if he wasn’t, I would squeeze some body parts out of him,” Horner explained.
“It seems to have worked, so I’ll have to try again at Zandvoort.”
Seriously, it looks like Perez is finally coming out of a period of stagnation that started at the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
Horner thinks podiums in Hungary and Belgium bode well for Perez’s second half of the season.
“He’s got a lot more confidence this weekend,” said Horner.
“He got the front row. He led the Grand Prix and finished second. He’s second in the Drivers’ World Championship, so he’ll get his confidence back from this race.”
“I think the Czechs know that this championship is out of reach unless disaster strikes Max.”
“So it’s important that he’s maxing out his performance, keeping up with the drivers behind him, and trying to pick up some wins between now and the end of the year.”
Category: F1 / red bull racing / Sergio Perez
2023-08-08 02:30:55
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