Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner remarked that Sergio Perez “didn’t look like he had three kids” with the moves he made during Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Perez came within six-hundredths of eclipsing his team-mate Max Verstappen to pole position but still secured a first front row starting appearance in almost 12 months.
The Mexican driver then converted that encouraging one-lap pace into a third second-place finish of the season to complete another Red Bull 1-2 finish behind Verstappen.
But Perez was made to work for his runners-up result as an undercut from Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc converting to a one-stop demoted him to fourth at one stage.
However, Perez produced some fine overtakes to remain on course, including on successive laps on the inside of the high-speed 130R left-hander on the Mercedes drivers.
Horner commended Perez’s positive showing at Suzuka, although admitted that he watched through gritted teeth as his driver pulled some committed moves in the race.
“I thought Checo in particular has had a strong weekend,” Horner said. “To qualify within a tenth of his team-mate here.
“Race pace was strong obviously, he had the disadvantage of having to come back through the traffic.
“There were a couple of moments where, I must admit, I had my eyes shut as he went into 130R… do you need to do it there? Can’t you wait until the straight?
“He didn’t look like he had three kids when he made that move!”
Perez endured a nightmare outing on F1’s previous visit to Suzuka last September as he qualified eight-tenths behind Verstappen and then retired on two occasions.
The six-time F1 race winner attributed his reversal in fortunes to no longer “inventing” when it comes to pursuing an optimal set-up on his Red Bull car each weekend.
“I think his confidence is high, he’s very focused on the job at hand, and he’s comfortable in the team,” Horner added.
“And he knows he’s out of contract for next year, it’s his seat to lose, he’s very popular in the team, and he’s started the season in the best possible way.”
Perez – who sits second in the Drivers’ standings, 13 points behind Verstappen – commented that he expects his Red Bull future to be decided within the next month.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko suggested last weekend that not having a contract in his pocket for 2025 was behind Perez’s building momentum in this campaign.
“Last year [in Japan] in particular was Sergio’s worst race. Everything went wrong then, so I think it’s particularly satisfying for him,” Marko told Sky Germany.
“You can see he can do it. But perhaps it also plays a role that next year’s contracts are at stake – this year much earlier than usual. That also seems to be very motivating.”
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