Christian Horner believes a more relaxed environment at Red Bull, now practically void of any title pressure, will help Sergio Perez re-find his early season form.
Perez and teammate Max Verstappen traded wins in the first four races of the season, but the Mexican has since lost his footing relative to the Dutchman on the back of a disastrous Monaco Grand Prix weekend marked by a crash in Q1 and more qualifying pains in Spain.
Starting from P11, Perez salvaged a fourth-place finish at the checkered flag, but Verstappen's 40th career win last weekend allowed the Red Bull charger to break loose from his teammate in the Drivers' championship by a comfortable 53 points.
It's too early to consider the title as a clear-cut affair for Verstappen, but the chances of Perez catching his teammate in the standings appear remote, which should help the Mexican relax according to Horner.
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"I think for him that'll give him a lot of confidence coming out of this," said the Red Bull chief. "He has had a difficult Monaco, difficult Saturday here, a stronger Sunday.
"And I think that looking at the gap now between the two drivers, which is pretty significant, in many respects that will take pressure off his shoulders, and I think that'll allow him just to now relax, not put pressure on himself and just re-find the form that he had in those early races."
"I think that we know what Checo is capable of. We've seen in races like Azerbaijan and Saudi already this year, what he's capable of doing. And I'm sure he'll re-find that form in the near future."
©RedBull
While Horner labeled Perez's run to P4 as "strong", the Mexican – at the wheel of the fastest car in the field – still finished well behind Mercedes' George Russell who crossed the checkered flag third.
Nevertheless, Horner noted that his driver had exceeded the simulations provided by Red Bull's strategist.
"The sim said on a clean race P5," he explained. "He did one better than that in P4. We felt maybe the Ferrari would have better race pace than it had.
"He was getting within a couple of seconds of the podium as well at the end there, and hunting down George. It was a very good recovery, particularly the second half of the race, for Checo."
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