(Motorsport) Christian Horner, Red Bull’s team principal, has dismissed criticism from Jos Verstappen about the events of Monaco Grand Prix where the team were blamed for prioritising Sergio Perez instead of the current World Champion Max Verstappen. Speaking to Sky Sports between FP1 and FP2 ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Christian Horner stood by the team’s decisions which led to the Mexican driver winning the race and reiterated his belief that both the drivers are equally important for the team.

Christian Horner said “Dads and fathers are never totally objective. What wasn't apparent was all of the information that we have during a race. If Max had pitted, then he would have come out behind I think George at the time. Jos is his own person and personality. He's got opinions and that's absolutely fine, that's his opinion. The reality for us was obviously slightly different… it's no issue." Perez’s victory in Monaco meant that only 15 points separate the two drivers, which means that the Mexican can be considered as a genuine title contender for the team.

Horner insisted that if Perez manages to outqualify Verstappen at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he will get the first call on strategy during the race. He said “The No 1 driver is the driver that's ahead, it's as simple as that. That's why Checo got the call on the pit stop, Max wouldn't even have had track position for example on that lap. But, our fight isn't between the two drivers, we've got a very competitive Ferrari with two fast drivers in it. Collectively as a team, we've got to take the fight and take the challenge to Ferrari, who are looking very quick this year." 

If that wasn’t all, Sergio Perez on Friday reiterated that his contract doesn’t specify that he is the ‘second driver’ for the Red Bull team. The Mexican said “We didn't discuss that. There's nothing in my contract that says that I need to finish second or something like that. It was not a topic at all. I feel like I've got a good opportunity (to win the World Championship). Obviously the season is still very young, so anything can happen from now on. I certainly feel like as a driver you want certainty and you want to get that stress out of the way. So the earlier the better. It takes so much energy and so much focus to be 100 percent weekend by weekend, so you don't need that thinking. So it was good that we agreed so early with the contract." 

The contract extension to Sergio Perez has meant that AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, who previously raced for Red Bull in 2019 could decide to leave his parent team’s stable after his contract expires in 2023. Speaking about Gasly, Horner said “We're in the fortunate position through the ownership of Red Bull effectively having two Grand Prix teams, that we've been able to invest in young talent and bring it up. 

“It was obviously a no-brainer for us, and totally deserving for Checo, to retain that seat. For Pierre, obviously he remains under contract to Red Bull and there's another year to run on that contract, but the timing wasn't right to bring him back into Red Bull Racing. For Yuki, it's still very early in his career so it was never even a discussion. If shows that we're not afraid to step out of the scheme, if a driver within the scheme we don't feel that there's one ready for Red Bull Racing. The pairing that we have, we're very happy with." 

Also read: Pierre Gasly considers leaving Red Bull after Perez gets new contract