Why Perez won't be broken by his latest F1 disappointments

For a driver who is expected to act as Max Verstappen’s wingman and support Red Bull’s Formula 1 title challenge, these have been a tough few weeks for Sergio Perez.

With Mercedes having managed to eke out a bit of a gap in the constructors’ table, and Verstappen pretty much neck and neck with Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings, the contribution from the second RB16B has been lacking of late.

It’s quite incredible that, since the British Grand Prix back in July, Perez has scored just 16 points – the exact same number as George Russell has in a Williams car that, until then, had not finished in the top 10 at all. If Red Bull is to have any serious hope of the constructors’ crown, and Verstappen the support needed for his own ambitions, the situation needs turning around quickly.

So you would think under such circumstances that Perez would be feeling a bit despondent, especially with the struggles he has faced adapting to the RB16B seemingly not much better now than they were at the start of the season. But it is the complete opposite.

In fact, speaking over last weekend’s Russian Grand Prix weekend about the state of the nation at Red Bull, there was not a hint of him being ready to throw in the towel.

Perez has not let his disappointing run of results get him down

Photo by: FIA Pool

“It's how the business is,” he remarked after a qualifying session where hopes of a good run were dashed by him just missing the window on the change to slicks. “I've been long enough here, it won't break me down.

“There's still a long way to go. I've been in this position before, and I will turn things around, I have no doubt.”

Perez’s poor results in the last few races do not offer a full reflection of his relative performance, because there have been some encouraging signs amid the disappointment. Indeed, Perez was as big a victim of the slick versus intermediates tyre conundrum in the closing stages of Sochi as Lando Norris - who missed out on the win.

“I think the pace has improved quite a bit in the last few weekends, we just have to make sure we get the final bit together to be able to transform the results” Sergio Perez

Having hauled himself up to third, despite a botched pitstop (albeit not helped by him failing to have the clutch fully engaged so the wheels were spinning up), the Mexican had elected to stay out when the rain came down rather than switch to inters. Part of that was personal preference, and part of it was because it allowed Red Bull to cover both options to ensure one of its cars was right up there.

“In the first and third sector it was pretty dry and you could get temperature into the tyres so, if it then dried up, those of us on the slicks would have made it work and those on the inters would have seen their race destroyed,” Perez said.

“In hindsight, the slick wasn’t the right tyre and ultimately the timing of the rain in the race meant some people got lucky and others didn’t. We were on for a great result with a podium through pure merit and, despite a slow pitstop, we still managed to come through the field to third. But sometimes this is how racing is.”

Perez was one of the drivers to suffer by sticking with slick tyres in Russian GP

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Much of Perez's recent disappointing form has been down to these tiny elements of bad luck or poor timing going against him.

Just look back at Zandvoort, when a slightly late exit from the garage in Q1, getting caught up in the pitlane traffic jam and then being slowed by other cars on the out-lap meant he failed by just 1.5 seconds to start a flying lap – and ended up 16th on the grid.

It is misfortune such as this that gives Perez the belief it will not take much to turn the speed potential he has shown in recent races into results.

A slightly earlier exit in Zandvoort qualifying, or the rain not coming down at the end of Sochi, and he could have been staring at completely different results that paint an entirely different picture of the job he is doing right now.

“It’s just putting things together really,” he says. “I think the pace has improved quite a bit in the last few weekends, we just have to make sure we get the final bit together to be able to transform the results.

“We've done them before and I'm sure we can do this, I have full belief in the team and there's still a long way to go.”

Mexican remains confident he can turn his fortunes around

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Perez has openly admitted that adapting to the RB16B has been harder this season than expected - even suggesting that the contrasting way the Red Bull handles meant F1 has felt like a completely different category to him.

The situation has also not been helped by needing to adapt to a new power unit too, such are the intricacies of the way modern F1 cars deliver performance.

“I'm not allowed to go into too much detail unfortunately, but it is quite a difference in the way you drive, the way you apply the throttle,” he said. “It varies quite a lot from what I was used to. The [Honda and Mercedes] engines are just very different in the way you put the power down, so you have to drive them very differently as well.”

“For next year, it’s a complete reset. It’s a total different philosophy of car, and I think it’ll be just generally, all of the teams will find that it’s a much more drivable car” Christian Horner

Perez has also suffered because practice time has been dramatically cut this year, so he has effectively lost an extra hour of running that he would previously have enjoyed on a Friday.

The ultimate truth is he has simply been up against it in a car that he needs time to adapt to, in a season that does not offer all the opportunity he would like to test things out. And, added to that, is the fact the concept of the Red Bull car has obviously leaned more and more towards what Verstappen prefers.

Whereas the Dutchman doesn’t mind a pointy set-up, because he can cope with a rear end that is on the verge of breaking away, for Perez that’s exactly what he doesn’t like.

The Red Bull has been designed with Verstappen's preferences in mind

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“There are certain differences between Max and myself there,” he explained. “I like to have a more stable rear end, especially for medium-speed and high-speed corners to be able to feel a bit more of the car. That is something that we are still working on [behind the scenes] to improve.”

But if there's a ray of light that points towards why Perez can turn things around, it is that the pain he has experienced with the RB16B this year should not be repeated next season.

Early indications from the 2022 F1 cars suggest a completely different handling characteristic for the ground-effect cars that are coming. The likelihood is they will have a much more planted rear end, and be much more benign.

As Red Bull team boss Christian Horner explained back in Belgium: “I think the [current] car, naturally, has evolved around Max’s style. That is quite nervous on entry to some of these corners. I think that’s something Pierre [Gasly] and Alex [Albon] suffered with previously as well.

“Checo I think has done a good job of trying to understand that. I think we’ve introduced things that can help him. I think for next year, it’s a complete reset. It’s a total different philosophy of car, and I think it’ll be just generally, all of the teams will find that it’s a much more drivable car.”

Rule changes for next year will level the playing field and could be a boost for Perez

For Perez, the 2022 change of rules also means a clean sheet of paper for every driver. Everyone will be starting from the same point, so he won’t be having to play catch up in understanding a concept that has been ingrained for years.

“I am working in the simulator on next year’s car,” he remarked on the efforts being thrown forwards to next year. “I have been spending a lot of time in the sim this year anyway. First of all to adapt to this year's car, and now going forward into the new set of regulations. It is going be a completely different way of driving, a really different way of driving those cars.”

But crucially, after a year where he has had to deal with a Verstappen style of car, does he think 2022’s F1 machine will give him exactly what he wants on the handling front?

His response: “I hope so, and otherwise I will make it suit my driving style…”

Perez remains optimistic of more strong results ahead

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images