Sergio Perez is more confident in his ability to adjust to Red Bull’s RB20 following a difficult season the previous year, believing that the team and he have gained new insights into the vehicle.
In 2023, Sergio Perez the Mexican driver’s season was incredibly poor. He was finding it difficult to adjust to the RB19 and was much behind colleague Mex Verstappen in pace.
The 34-year-old, who had a superior vehicle throughout the season, was 290 points behind Verstappen and had missed nine Q3s. As the season progressed, Perez experienced discomfort when operating the RB19.
Problems with the vehicle’s upgrades
When the 2023 season began, Perez and Verstappen were virtually tied after Perez’s victories in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, the Mexicans were unable to win any more races following the race in Baku.
With Verstappen starting in ninth and the Red Bull driver starting from pole, the latter had a fantastic opportunity in Miami. But he lost to his Dutch colleague, unable to turn his pole position into victory.
For Perez, Miami was a psychological blow. But what had the most impact on his season were the improvements made to the Spanish Grand Prix. The Mexican felt less at ease with the RB19 due to the changes, as it was significantly slower. Perez struggled for the remainder of the season after Barcelona, carrying on the trend.
The Mexican said, “We had some issues as the car was developing.”
“And by attempting to fix those problems, we were only degrading the car’s performance rather than making it drive faster. Enhancing comfort does not always translate into speed.
“We learned a lot during the season’s lowest point, which was in Qatar, Japan.”
More at ease with the RB20, Perez used the simulator before the US Grand Prix last year, which assisted him in learning fresh information about the vehicle. The Mexican thinks it will make it easier for him to handle the RB20 this year:
“Given what we learned last year, it’s critical that we identify our mistakes and learn from them.”
We made a lot of understandings, I believe. I’ve been with Red Bull for four years, and I aim to perform at my very best this year.
“[We worked] on comprehending the challenging races, the reasons behind their difficulty, the car’s direction we were taking, and how we were overcompensating without necessarily improving the car.” We were able to learn from all of that, I believe.
The simulator’s low-speed cornering appears to be in a better place, according to Perez, who expressed his admiration for the numbers.
Under intense pressure to produce this season, the 34-year-old promises to pursue greater consistency to make the most of every opportunity that comes his way.
