He will undoubtedly be the centre of attention until the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 8. Sergio Pérez has no choice. If he wants to keep his place at Red Bull next season, or at least justify that he deserves a place in a top team, the Guadalajara native will have to significantly improve his results, having not been on the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix last April.
At Zandvoort, where the Dutch Grand Prix is taking place this weekend, Pérez will be aiming to reverse this trend, thanks in particular to the improvements he has made to his car this summer.
“I have high hopes and belief that I can turn the situation in my favour this season in the next ten races. During the summer break we understood a lot of things about the car and its improvements. Overall I think we were a little lost and now we understand much better what is happening with the car.”
Max Verstappen’s teammate even claims that some recent developments on the Milton Keynes cars have not worked as they should, which would justify the drop in form of Christian Horner’s men before the summer.
“We know there have been one or two developments recently that have put us back in the hierarchy. We have a lot of potential to exploit and we need to do our best to get it out of the car. If we can do that, this season could be very good.”
With Red Bull facing a direct threat from McLaren or even Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, it needs to be able to rely on having two drivers at the front of the field. After his recent performances, Pérez knows he needs to work harder to help his team against numerous and very strong competitors.
“I’ve always said that all that matters is where I finish in Abu Dhabi. So I’ve got ten races left to improve and hope to be up there and get some good results. That’s the goal and this is where it really starts.”
With 131 points in the drivers’ championship, less than double that of his teammate, Pérez is currently in 7th place between the two Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
