Red Bull boss reveals he invited F1 drivers to his place for a BBQ night post-Silverstone qualifying

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner recently revealed he hosted almost half the grid for a barbeque at his home after the qualifying session at the 2023 British GP in Silverstone.

Horner resides near the Milton-Keynes area, close to the Silverstone circuit. The Brit shared that the drivers present at his gathering took no time to get talking with each other about their moments on the track, the upcoming race as well as other racing related topics.

Speaking to the media, including GPFans, the Red Bull team boss said:

"You could see that he (Verstappen) enjoyed racing with Lando today. There was a lot of respect between the two. He's a racer, he likes to race. I had all the drivers at my house for a barbecue last night and you immediately see that they immediately start talking about the moments on the track, what happened here and there, even about what happened in Formula 3 or in karting."

Although all drivers were invited, Horner mentioned that about half the grid showed up for the barbeque.

Red Bull team boss speaks on Sergio Perez's current form

It has been a tough time for the Mexican driver since his win at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April. Perez has missed getting into the Q3 in five consecutive races, and has not been on the front row in the main race since Miami.

As per Autosport, the Red Bull team boss said about Perez's form:

“At the moment, he’s running second in the championship and he’s extended his lead over Fernando [at Silverstone]. We’ve got a good car, but we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got both cars in contention. If you look at his pace in the last stint, he was right there. It’s frustrating for him that he’s having to fight back all of the time, but he’s just got to sort his qualifying out on the Saturday and as a team, we’ll do our best to support him on that.”

When asked about the prospect of replacing Perez with Daniel Ricciardo, Horner discussed the Australian's upcoming Pirelli tyre test but added there were no plans to replace Perez.

“It’s going to be great to see him back in a Red Bull car and seeing what he can do, where he's at," he said. "Both on pace and mentally, physically and to get his feedback on this car as well. I think it's a good opportunity for him to get back behind the wheel of a car that's just won the British Grand Prix. [Promoting Ricciardo to the race team] is not something that we're planning, that's for certain."