In order for Sergio Perez to continue serving as the “Mexican minister of defense” for the upcoming season, Christian
Horner has been pushed by former F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer to re-sign Perez.
At the end of the current season, Perez’s contract will expire, and while the seat is technically his to lose, there are
plenty of contenders keen to take his spot and become Max Verstappen’s next teammate.
Szafnauer, who collaborated with Perez for eight seasons between 2014 and 2020, is familiar with the driver and
believes that, among Horner’s possibilities, the 36-year-old is “the best” option. “When I was doing this Formula One
thing in Abu Dhabi [last week], David Coulthard was on stage with me, and someone asked me, “If you were
Christian Horner, who would you replace?” Checo with? “Szafnauer asked a few media outlets, including
RacingNews365.
“Knowing Checo as well as I do, I would swap Checo for Checo,” I replied. I would continue to keep him there for the
following year if I were a Christian.”
Regarding Verstappen’s maiden championship triumph in 2021, Szafnauer acknowledges that other instances
shouldn’t be disregarded, even though Perez’s strong defense against Lewis Hamilton in the decisive race in Abu
Dhabi played a significant role.
“Let’s not forget, the first year Max won, it was partly because of Checo, partly because of the circumstance,” stated
Szafnauer. “[However] Consider all the races that went into that victory rather than simply the most recent one. “At
that time, he was known throughout Mexico as the “He’s had some lows. This year, from what I can see, apart from a
couple of races where I think he should have finished a bit higher, he’s doing it,” said the “Minister of Defence,” or
whatever he was. Perez has “always been racecraft,” according to Szafnauer, making up for the fact that “he’s never
been a great qualifier.”
His multiple outings with Red Bull since coming in 2021 have demonstrated this, with his one-lap pace frequently
being subpar in sharp contrast to Verstappen’s.
Szafnauer reflected on their time together at Force India/Racing Point, saying, “I can’t even count how many times
he worked for me and I thought, ‘Why did you do that in a race?'”
“He is really, really skilled at overtaking without making mistakes, but I can only recall one instance, in Singapore,
where he lost his cool and smacked a Williams. He’s quite skilled at it.”
Perez’s handling of his tires is also a a noteworthy topic for Szafnauer, referencing, specifically, his four-year
collaboration with Nico Hulkenberg, who will drive for Audi in 2026 and join Stake the following year.
“When he was up against Hulkenberg, Hulkenberg would always get him over a lap,” Szafnauer remarked. By the
end, Checo was able to control his tires, and he would eventually catch up with him.
“After twelve laps, Hulkenberg would be on the radio, complaining that his rear tires were gone. He would even say
this when the race was front-limited. However, Checo? Never. He simply possesses that talent.
“One of the greatest tire experts, Jun [Matsuzaki, chief tyre performance engineer], whom I hired, would instruct
him, ‘In this corner, make sure you don’t put any lateral load into the tire since it will accelerate tyre deterioration.
“That corner, that corner, that corner—just longitudinal load—would be known to the drivers. Avoid using the
throttle until it is straight.
You didn’t even need to tell Checo that he could accomplish it. One advantage is that he seemed to understand what
the tire was doing.
Szafnauer, however, responded, “Max is just better,” after it was pointed out to him that “Max had wiped the floor
with him [Perez] over the past 12 months.”
As RacingNews365 previously reported here, Szafnauer was speaking at an event to promote his new Eventr travel
app.
