“First of all, we won nine Grands Prix this year against five other teams,” Horner said when asked about the Mexican driver. “Now all nine come from Max (Verstappen), while every other team is split between two drivers.

“And I think to finish third – we still have half a chance of second place, but that’s very far away – we’re out of the constructors’ group, and that’s very frustrating because that’s obviously where the financial ones are Revenue distributed.”

“Now we actually have more time in the wind tunnel, considering the glass is half full with the new regulations coming into effect in 2026. It gives us more time in the wind tunnel to accommodate these new regulations.”

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That glass-half-full view won’t necessarily keep Perez in the team, however, as the Mexican last finished in the top four of a race in Miami and has been under constant pressure all year.

The RB20 was a handful to drive and certainly wasn’t the class of the field all season, but Perez’s results are still in stark contrast to Verstappen’s consistent performance.