Perez has been doing well at the start of the year, getting three second-place finishes in four races, all behind Verstappen.
These good performances have made Red Bull think about whether to keep Perez or find someone new for the team in 2025 and beyond. There are many drivers available for next year.
Last year, Perez seemed to struggle because he wanted to be as good as Verstappen. He won two races early in the season and hoped for a shot at the championship.
But Horner, from Red Bull, thinks Perez is doing better this season because he’s not so focused on beating Verstappen. This change in attitude has made him more relaxed when driving.
“You guys have a tendency to write him off but he is doing a great job,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.
“He has come into this season with a new frame of mind, he is relaxed, he is driving the car really well.
“He is not focused on his team-mate, it is a different approach and in the first five races we’ve seen a really strong performance from him.
“He is driving well, his confidence is growing and hopefully he can convert that into another good result tomorrow.”
Horner also said that Perez is handling the pressure of fighting for his future at Red Bull well, especially after a tough winter.
“He is an important part of the team and it is about working collectively and I think he has got a great engineering support around him and the team are doing a good job,” he explained.
“He feels comfortable in the team. He knows he is out of contract at the end of this season and he is driving for his future.
“He responds to pressure in the best possible way and I think we see that with certain drivers with how they respond to pressure while others sometimes wilt.
“He has changed a few things in his approach and I think he is driving really well.”
Perez qualified second for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix after nearly getting eliminated in Q1. Horner admitted that the team was lucky because Perez managed to get through to Q2 using used tires.
“The track was evolving quickly and in hindsight we probably should have run a new set of tyres, but we were stacking them up for later in qualifying and the track was ramping up,” he said.
“You’d like to say it was perfect judgement but we got a bit lucky to get him within the cut.”
