Ted Kravitz suggested Sergio Perez has been unfairly by Christian Horner following the Red Bull chief's public comments about his driver.
Perez is out of contract at the end of the season and is fighting for his future, but has started the campaign well. He has three podiums to show for his four races so far and sits second in the drivers' championship behind only team-mate Max Verstappen.
While his stock is high, the Mexican wants to thrash out a new deal to secure his place with F1's top team. But, speaking to reporters at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, said Red Bull will not be rushing to a decision over his future.
Horner praised Perez's improvement and suggested the fact his contract is expiring soon might have had an impact on his performances. And that line seems to have irked Sky Sports F1 pit lane reporter Kravitz, who sounded critical of the Red Bull boss in his Ted's Notebook show after qualifying in Shanghai.
"You might have heard Christian Horner, talking to [Sky presenter] Simon Lazenby after qualifying, seemingly blaming the media for discounting Sergio Perez," said Kravitz.
Inside the driver call which upset Red Bull and changed the course of F1 history
"This is the same Christian Horner who, in the press conference when he was asked about what he put Checo's improvement recently [down to], said, 'Probably because it's contract renewal season'.
"So think about it this way. You're Sergio Perez and you've done a lot of work in the simulator in Milton Keynes and a lot of work with [race engineer] Hugh Bird to improve yourself and you've made great improvements. You're second to Max Verstappen at most of the races so far and you've really upped your game.
"And then you've got your team boss saying, 'You've only upped your game because it's contract renegotiation time and you're only trying because you want a new contract'. If you're Sergio Perez, how does that make you feel?
"Sergio might want a quick contract for the future, but Christian isn't going to give him that either. So, ignoring Checo's, 'We're going to sit down and discuss this in the next few weeks' line, Christian said, 'We're not deciding drivers for a long time', then went and sang Carlos Sainz's praises."
Horner had confirmed Red Bull talks with Sainz, who is leaving Ferrari and is a top candidate for Perez's seat should the team decide to make a change. He said: "A driver of Carlos' calibre, he wants to be in a winning car. And whilst we have one seat available for next year, his target, inevitably, is that seat."
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