Sergio Perez says he can sense the difficulties with regards to Red Bull F1 car but he is confident on his own abilities to take the fight against Max Verstappen.
Ever since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull has faced difficulties with both Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon in the second car alongside Verstappen. While the Dutchman is able to use his experience and raw pace, his teammates haven’t been as much.
The expectation now is that Perez will be able to handle it much better with his experience. Although he only drove demonstration laps in the new RB16B, but the Mexican had much better run in the RB15 – which was enough for him to understand the difficulties.
Speaking to selected media like F1, BBC, Motorsport Network, Racefans and more, Perez understood why Red Bull was difficult car to adapt for drivers like Gasly and Albon. “It is quite different, I can already spot the differences,” said the Mexican.
“You can feel the strong front end that the car has and so on, those are things that as soon as you jump into the car and the simulator. You can spot them out fairly quickly. I think it’s obviously a car that I can see why not every driver can adapt to it.
“I can already spot that. In terms of the timing that I need, to know exactly where to set up the car, where to take the final tenths out of it. That comes with experience in the car, and learning how to make the most out of it.
“That’s something that will come just once I fully understand. I hope it doesn’t take me too long,” summed up Perez, as he added on his own abilities to take on the challenge and extract as much he can from the car, while also taking on Verstappen.
“My goal is to over-deliver this year, we need to push and develop the car forward,” said Perez. “This is the way I approach everything. In a top team as well, it won’t change how I approach racing. New people, new car, new technique, new challenge.
“In terms of where to set up the car and learning how to make the most out of the car. I need to learn a lot and hope it does not take me too long. I am confident in my abilities. If we’ve got a car good enough to win the championship, to make sure I win it.
“And if we’ve got a car that is good for second, make sure I win. Over-deliver the car potential. My experience will come handy. You’re here and when things don’t go well, pressure hits you hard. And when you are experienced and when you’ve been through it before, it just makes you focus on the right stuff.
“Technically you develop a lot of skills as well throughout your career. I just think the opportunity comes at a great point of my career and it’s going to work out well. As for my teammate, from what I’ve seen, Max will be very strong in qualifying, a massive benchmark. But I think my strength comes on Sunday, with racecraft and race pace.
“I think that’s a pretty good match that hopefully delivers the maximum of the car. I am confident in my abilities, with time and once I’m on top all things I need to know about the car, I can be at my highest level. It’s a big opportunity for me. I am very excited about it and will make sure I deliver,” summed up Perez.
Here’s Max Verstappen on RB16B, Honda gains
Here’s Max Verstappen driving the RB15 and thoughts on RB16B
Here’s Sergio Perez driving the RB15