Perez ‘in this championship as much as Max is’, says Horner

The Mexican has moved to within six points of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and is only 15 points off his teammate after taking a fine first win of the season around the streets of Monte Carlo last time out. 

Perez will fancy his chances of another strong result this weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, where he celebrated his first win for Red Bull last year. 

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Speaking after his first win at Monaco, Horner confirmed that Perez, who has signed a new two-year deal to stay at Red Bull, is in the title battle despite being forced to play the team game at the previous race in Spain. 

“He's in this championship just as much as Max is,” Horner stressed. “The difference between the two of them is 15 points or so now,  it's nothing. But it's a long way to go in this championship and we can see Ferrari have got a very fast car. They had a better car than us on this circuit this weekend.

“I think through great teamwork, through great work from the drivers, and the pit wall and the pit stops and the double stops we managed to beat them here and that's not going to be easy at the coming races. 

“So as a team we've always got to optimise our performance and then, at the back end of the championship, that's where it's going to get really exciting.”

On Perez’s performances, Horner added: “He's doing a great a job. I mean, look at his performances so far. 

“In Jeddah, he had that amazing pole; the time delta between him and Max has been a lot, lot closer this year. I mean, to win this race, his third victory, what a place to get that.”

Verstappen insists title fight won’t change relationship with Perez

World champion Verstappen has insisted that his relationship with Perez will not be affected by the prospect of an intra-team battle for the title.

While the Dutchman said he considers Perez to be a genuine rival for the championship, he is confident their shared mutual respect will remain intact even if things heat up.

"Why would it change?" said Verstappen. "We work really well as a team. We always try to optimise the car and work for the team. 

"We can accept when somebody does a good job or does a better job and I think that's very important because that's how you are respectful to each other.

"May the best man win at the end, right? We always, of course, try to do the best we can on the track but we also respect each other a lot and try to score the most possible points each weekend for the team.”

Perez jokingly interjected: “We’re still going to be in love, right?”.