Mexico can transform Perez's F1 fate - if weight of nation doesn't drag him down

There was a point on Sunday night where things were not getting any easier. Although Horner stated: “I think that will give him a lot of confidence going into his home grand prix”, at the moment he was talking, the gap between Perez and Lewis Hamilton was down to 19 points in the drivers’ championship.

Hamilton’s subsequent disqualification and Perez’s promotion to fourth place means it now stands at 39 points, and there’s breathing space with four races to go in the battle to be runner-up behind Max Verstappen.

Red Bull wants that accolade of a one-two in the drivers’ championship having failed to secure it in the past, and Perez no longer has Hamilton within striking distance. It’s exactly what he needed ahead of the most intense weekend of his season.

Perez was already receiving huge support over the past few days in Austin, with regular chants of “CHECO, CHECO” from the crowd. But in Mexico City it is another level entirely.

There will be unbelievable attention on Perez, and enormous demands on his time. Yet it might just be the environment he needs right now.

A weekend of finishing fifth in the Sprint and fourth in the grand prix (thanks to a penalty) at Circuit of the Americas is hardly an effusive case for a return to his best form, and Perez really does still need to show Red Bull this is a dip rather than the consistent level he is operating at.

In the past, Horner admits the best way to help Perez has tended to be an arm around his shoulder and a feeling of support rather than tough love and ultimatums, and in Mexico he’s going to be made to feel like a God everywhere he goes from the moment he landed. It will be exhausting, but it might just have an impact on the swagger he is carrying once he gets into the car come Friday.

Two third-place finishes in his last two visits to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez have been his best results at home and he’d probably take a repeat at this stage, but if ever there’s a race to win that could have a transformative impact on a driver’s confidence it would be this one.

A Perez victory would almost lead to a national holiday and I genuinely can’t begin to imagine the scenes in the grandstands if he were to pull it off. But there’s absolutely no doubting it would be a remarkable sight that would surely only ever sit second to Perez actually winning a world championship.

The reason I’m running away with the hypothetical a little bit here is because it shows what a big test Perez has ahead of him. He can’t allow himself to get carried away with such visions based on the results he has been picking up since the summer break – one podium in six races – and he also can’t allow the weight of a nation drag him down even further.

The latter is easier said than done, but just like he has set the benchmark in so many ways this year, Verstappen showed just how to deal with the adulation in Zandvoort just two months ago.

The atmosphere could be far more hostile this weekend for the Dutchman but you never doubt that he is going to perform regardless of what is going on around him. If for some reason Verstappen were to have an off-weekend, we’d still likely be talking about a podium finish. If the same were to befall Perez, it could be far, far more damaging.

With five races in six weeks ending the season there is very little time for Perez to try and right the ship if it goes wrong again, and he could head into the winter with real question marks hanging over his position. But one strong weekend in Mexico City has the potential to firmly change the narrative and provide that confidence boost that Red Bull wants him to get.

This really could be a handful of days that have a major impact on his next 18 months.