Red Bull team boss Christian Horner avoided answering whether Sergio Perez will finish the F1 2024 season as the team’s title hopes took a hit at the Mexican Grand Prix. Perez failed to make it out of Q1 for his home race in Mexico and raced to 17th and last after a troubled 70 laps, which included a moment of contention with his possible replacement Liam Lawson. Christian Horner: Sergio Perez had a horrible weekendComing into Mexico, Perez had admitted his F1 2024 season has been “terrible” – a sentiment Horner didn’t move to defend when he appeared in Friday’s press conference – and the Mexican driver duly produced one of his weakest weekends in front of his home crowd at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Eliminated in Q1 after complaining about brake issues on his RB20, Perez’s strong start proved too strong – he was given a penalty for a false start which compromised his chances of a comeback. With Max Verstappen salvaging sixth place from his penalty-afflicted race, Red Bull‘s title hopes took a hammering as the reigning Champions slumped to third – Ferrari’s double podium moving them ahead of the Milton Keynes-based squad. Horner admitted the chances of defending the title is now “very difficult” as he spoke to media including PlanetF1.

com after the race in Mexico, and explained what had happened to Perez. “We never give up. We’ll fight very hard.

We need both cars, obviously, scoring,” he said. “Ferrari had another big score today and, as far as the Constructors’ [Championship] is concerned, we’re certainly on the back foot. “Unfortunately, he [Perez] started out of the box position.

So he picked up a penalty for that. “He just positioned the car outside of the box. He just made a mistake and positioned the car too far forward outside of the box.

“His first lap was strong, his start was strong. The damage that he picked up with Liam, he picked up about 70 points worth of [damage] with the load with a hole in the sidepod and half the side of the floor missing. “So, at that point, you’re effectively wounded and scoring points was never going to be on the cards.

”Perez had been involved in a battle with VCARB driver Lawson, with the pair’s squabble taking on a different complexion as the fight is likely over the cockpit Perez currently occupies – Lawson being the leading candidate to slot in, should he prove impressive in his six-race shootout with VCARB. The battle resulted in damage to both, with Lawson duly showing his displeasure with his rival via a hand gesture – the Kiwi was spotted in a conversation with Horner following the race conclusion. “I think it demonstrates that you can see that the two teams do race each other and, whilst having the same ownership, are independent in the way that they go racing,” Horner said of the incident.

“Now, Liam has obviously apologised to Checo [Perez] for the incident. There’ll be lessons that come out of that. But frustrating for Checo’s race to pick up the damage and lose valuable points today.

”More on Red Bull in F1👉 Inside Red Bull: Christian Horner and the other major players in Red Bull’s hierarchy👉 All the mid-season driver swaps Red Bull have made in their F1 historyChristian Horner refuses to rule out Sergio Perez replacementOn the topic of Perez’s future, which appears increasingly shaky despite his two-year contract extension earlier this season, Horner admitted that the prospect of a replacement isn’t completely unthinkable. “Checo, again, has had a horrible weekend, and nothing’s gone right for him this weekend,” he said. “He knows Formula 1 is a results-based business and, inevitably, when you’re not delivering then the spotlight is firmly on.

“When anyone is underperforming, of course, there is always going to be scrutiny on that. As a team, we need to have both cars scoring points. That’s the nature of F1.

“[Scrutiny] is constant. So it’s always there. From a team’s perspective, we’re working with him as hard as we can to try and support him.

I think we’ve done everything that we can to support Checo, and we’ll continue to do so in Brazil next weekend. But there comes a point in time when you can only do so much. ”With both Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda having bad races for VCARB, Horner said they hadn’t “had a great day” – and teased a point in time will come for a “difficult decision” to be made.

“That scrutiny is always going to going to be there,” he said. “There comes a point in time when difficult decisions have to be made. We’re now third in the Constructors’ Championship.

“Our determination is to try and try and get back into a winning position, but it’s going to be a tall order over these next four races. ”Read Next: Did Max Verstappen play the ultimate 4D chess move with Mexican GP penalties?