Christian Horner fires ultimatum to Sergio Perez as sack threat looms at home race

has told that he needs to 'come into play' over the final five races of the campaign following a miserable outing at the last weekend.

The Mexican racer stumbled to a P7 finish at the Circuit of the Americas, finishing behind George Russell who started from the pit lane. This result was a disastrous one for Red Bull, who are now under pressure from Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship following their first one-two finish of the season.

Perez himself is under pressure too. The six-time Grand Prix winner is contracted into next season but reports are stating that he could be axed come the end of the year should his performances not improve, and VCARB duo Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda continue to impress.

"Ferrari, congratulations to them," Red Bull team principal Horner said after last weekend's result in Austin. They've been very, very strong, and they've got two drivers competing at the front. , likewise, their drivers, there's not a big deficit between them. That's where we really need for the Constructors' [Championship] to have Checo come into play."

With Perez's future uncertain, some rumours have suggested that the 34-year-old might announce his retirement from the sport this weekend in front of his adoring home crowd. The Red Bull driver insists, however, that he is committed to seeing out his career - and his current contract - in style.

"I had an opportunity, two opportunities, to change teams," he told ahead of last weekend's United States GP. "When I looked at it, I thought, I really love the challenge I have at Red Bull.

"It's a massive challenge being Max's teammate. It's a challenge that basically trains you for all of it. So I said, I want to spend my last part of my career at the top, at the very top, where the pressure, it's full-on. At the end of the day, when you go through a difficult period, there is a lot of talk.

"But ultimately, there is 90 per cent of the grid who would have loved to have my career. When you are a driver, you only think about the next race-the next challenge, the next category, the next contract. It's always about next, next, next," he says. "Sometimes it's good to step back out of it and remember how far you've gone. It's a very brutal sport."

However, if Perez wants to go out on his own terms he will need a stronger home race than he had in 2023. Last year he went three-wide into turn one and came out worse off as heavy contact sent him airborne and out of the Grand Prix on lap one.