Christian Horner hits back at “armchair experts” for criticizing Sergio Perez’s Red Bull F1 race engineer. The pressure on Sergio Perez is set to intensify following his disappointing qualifying performance in the F1 Mexico City GP.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has pushed back against critics armed with “just 1% of the facts” who have targeted Sergio Perez’s race engineer. The British motorsport executive and former racing driver noted the rising criticism of Hugh Bird in Sergio Perez’s home country of Mexico, where the grand prix is being held this weekend at the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

Since Sergio Perez joined Red Bull in 2021, Hugh Bird has been the voice guiding him through races. However, it appears that in Mexico, Hugh Bird has become a focal point for criticism directed at Sergio Perez’s recent performances, which have been extremely poor, especially compared to his Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, as was again the case this weekend in Mexico City:

“Look, I mean, when you put yourself out there as a race engineer and you’re the voice speaking to the driver, in today’s world of digital media, everybody has an opinion. Everybody has their own view on things.” – the Red Bull team boss pointed out – “Now, I think Hugh does a super job. He’s a really bright guy. He’s grown up in the team. He’s out there giving his best for his driver, for his team. And I think it’s very harsh for people to judge and criticise from the outside when they have about 1% of the facts of what he’s actually dealing with.” – Christian Horner explained.

“The great thing about opening up everything in Formula 1 is the access that we now give. The downside is the amount of armchair specialists and experts that we get that it opens up to. Hugh Bird is a very talented engineer and an important part of our team, and I think any criticism of him is unfair.” – the Red Bull team principal continued.

The pressure on Sergio Perez is set to intensify following his disappointing qualifying performance at his home race, the F1 Mexico City Grand Prix. After a season he himself described as “terrible,” Perez’s qualifying effort left him in 18th position on the grid.

Helmut Marko reflected on the lack of improvement in Sergio Perez’s form, noting to Sky Germany that the anticipated recovery simply hasn’t materialized. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s reserve lineup, with drivers Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, remain ready as potential replacements should the team’s confidence in Sergio Perez continue to wane.