Horner: Nothing evident holding Perez back in Sao Paulo

While Max Verstappen stunned the Formula 1 world by his driver from 17th on the grid to a third career win at Interlagos after mastering the tricky raining conditions.

Perez, on the other hand, had a new chassis for the Sao Paulo weekend, something he requested and the team indulged him, but that did not seem to make much difference.

In the Sprint part of the weekend, the dry part, Perez qualified 13th and finished eighth. In a wet Grand Prix qualifying, he was also 13th but finished 11th.

What made matters tough for Perez was a spin at the start of the race and then being stuck in a fight with his nemesis, Liam Lawson, ultimately losing out.

"It was a difficult race for Checo," Horner told the media in Sao Paulo after the race. "Spinning at the beginning of the race drops him down.

"It was an opportunity in the constructors' to take a big chunk out of both Ferrari and McLaren and unfortunately, we've not been able to capitalise on that.

"Obviously, that's frustrating, but we'll go away and have a look at it and come back hopefully fighting hard in Vegas," he maintained.

Horner was then asked whether Perez was suffering from any car issues which may have prevented from emulating Verstappen's recovery driver, he responded: "Not that I'm [aware of]. There was nothing evident to me in the race."

While Perez's seat at Red Bull was under threat around the summer break this season, the team confirmed he would stay on and he also has a contract for 2025, but Horner said difficult decisions may be made after Perez had a disappointing race in Mexico City.

After last weekend's F1 race in Brazil, Horner was asked again whether Red Bull are looking for a new driver, he said: "Everything in life is subjective.

"You've got to look at the facts. We're working hard with Checo. He had a chassis change this weekend. I thought he drove a good [sprint] race but [the grand prix] wasn't his day," Horner concluded.

Recently and as the rumors about Perez's future ramped up, there is speculation that Red Bull are interested in hiring Franco Colapinto.

It is not clear though whether the Argentine would be placed in Red Bull or VCARB, and in case of the latter, who will be Verstappen's partner? Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda?