Horner: No coincidence Perez achieved podiums in mediocre cars

The Mexican driver joins Red Bull for the 2021 Formula 1 season as the replacement for Alex Albon, partnering Max Verstappen in a car that achieved two race wins last year.

Red Bull posted clips of the 30-year-old arriving at the factory on Tuesday and the Milton Keynes-based team will be hoping he is able to do a better job of supporting Verstappen as they chase a first title since 2013.

Looking ahead to the new campaign, Horner said that Perez's career to date had impressed him, describing him as a "young dog with a bone".

“I can still remember his year in Formula 3," he told Racing News 365. "Checo did a great job and won some races, including at Monza.

“He was very impressive and worked with Adrian Fernandez, and Carlos Slim was also closely involved with him.

“In his first year in GP2, he was always stronger in the races than in qualifying. He had the determination to never give up. Sergio was like a young dog with a bone.

“I think that has become his trademark for him in terms of racing. It’s, therefore, no coincidence that he managed to achieve podium places in mediocre cars that actually didn’t belong on the podium.”

Perez is a very popular driver back home in Mexico and Horner was blown away by the interest the team received following his announcement.

“The interest surrounding his announcement was the biggest we’ve ever known with Red Bull,” he added.

“It’s great that Formula 1 is so popular, plus of course we have many more platforms at our disposal than years ago and are seeing tremendous growth in traffic from Latin America, which is good for Formula 1.”