Sergio Perez said he was responding to Red Bull Racing’s 2022 F1 car RB18 earlier than his teammates, but the team’s recent upgrades have “moved away” the development path from him.
Sergio Perez. Christian Horner, who made the best start in F1 career history at this year’s championship and heads the F1 team at Red Bull Racing, admits that the all-new RB18 has outperformed Max Verstappen.
But in the last two races in Canada and Silverstone, Max Verstappen seems to be able to get more pace from the car than Sergio Perez from the first lap of Friday’s practice.
Sergio Perez says the car is no longer completely comfortable following a series of recent upgrades to Red Bull Racing.
“I’m not as comfortable with car development as it was early on,” Sergio Perez told The Race.
“I think there’s a few things to do to understand what’s going on. I hope we can have an easier weekend here in Austria.”
With a recent upgrade, the Red Bull RB18 has a sharper front end, which Max Verstappen prefers to Sergio Perez.
“We’re just away from it in terms of how comfortable it was early on,” Sergio Perez added.
“But that said, it’s only a race, and I was pretty sick until last weekend, so I think it’s the first weekend to actually identify it.”
Mexican drivers will line up on the Red Bull Ring grid 34 points behind Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship.
Sergio Perez is second in the drivers’ ranking, but is one win behind Max Verstappen’s six wins. Both drivers have experienced two DNFs.
Asked that his challenge to the title was declining, Sergio Perez commented, “With a few more zeros, it would certainly kill the championship.”
“But now the reliability issues are gone and we can finish the race. That’s the most important thing.”
Category: Category: F1 / Sergio Perez / Red bull / F1 Austria GP
