Besieged Mexican driver Sergio Perez failed to fire fire a shot in Las Vegas and Horner’s pre-race message to the RBR driver that he was counting on him to bank points to stay in touch with the constructors championship title race fell horribly flat.
Bitter rival Mercedes, led by Toto Wolff, had a weekend to remember as British flyer George Russell snared victory and welcomed his, soon to depart teammate, Lewis Hamilton onto the podium in second place.
Radio comms during the race from the RBR garage kept a clear focus on Verstappen’s job to finish the race unscathed and ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, which would ultimately deliver him the world title.
Perez’s job was to finish as high up the placings as possible to assist the team with points in the $210m constructors title chase.
One of the drivers did his job, and one sadly finished 10th banking only one point.
Perez who has been the beneficiary of tested patience from Horner who laid out the job for Perez in the finaol three races of the year.
“Sergio is our driver and we want to do the very best to get the most out of him,” Horner told the official F1 channel.
“He’s had a really tough run of form over recent weeks and months.
“From a constructors’ point of view, we desperately need both cars right up there working as a pair, which we haven’t had.
“So obviously, hopefully, Checo can get some strong performances in these last three races.
“But there’s no way we’re going to be able to win the constructors championship without that.”
As the F1 travelling circus now heads to Abu Dhabi it will be a week of turmoil for Perez who must feel a ‘tap on the shoulder’ may be coming at any second.
Japanese Visa CashApp RB driver Yuki Tsunoda has thrown his hat in the ring and showed great pace throughout the Las Vegas race.
The second-tier driver finished ahead of Perez and openly stated after the race he wants a crack at the top spot.
“If I knew (what to do), I’ll do it right now after this interview,” Tsunoda joked.
But those things I can’t control.
“All I can control is my performance, like I’ve shown this year so far. I trust myself and haven shown my consistent results as much as possible.
“Hopefully they’ll (RBR) change their mind. Even if anything doesn’t change, I’ll do as much as I can.
“I know what I can do when I step into Red Bull, but for now, I just got to prepare as much as possible, show the good results and let them decide.”
Kiwi youngster Liam Lawson continues to learn his craft in the RB team and if Tsunoda was to get the nod, a Daniel Ricciardo return to RB would not be stretch.
For RBR bosses Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, the return of the experienced Ricciardo may strike the right balance for another tilt at both titles in 2025.
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