At the start of the 2022 season, it looked like Sergio Perez could have a say in the Formula 1 World Championship. The RB18, which tends to understeer, suited the Mexican’s driving style, but with the weight reduction and other updates, the Red Bull increasingly suited teammate Max Verstappen’s driving style.
On the sidelines of the launch of the new RB19 for the 2023 season on Friday in New York, Perez opened up about his title chances and stressed that consistency will be key to taking on his team-mate and the Ferrari and Mercedes competition .
“I think it’s all about consistency,” he says. “If I think back on the year, I was able to keep up with him at the beginning of the season. But then I had a very difficult period in the middle of the season. That will be the most important aspect of the season for me, finding that consistency.”
“In some races we also went in the wrong direction in terms of set-up. So we had a tough spell of Grands Prix that really knocked me out. So it’s important that we don’t have days off in that regard have and are able to fight for wins every single weekend,” explains Perez.
So Sergio Perez wants to be more constant
But how do you achieve consistency? “It’s a combination of two things,” says Perez. “Basically a combination of engineers and drivers to steer things in the right direction, to steer the car in the right direction. And to make sure we’re able to work through it consistently and get the maximum out of it.”
He is optimistic for the 2023 season, as he has already worked on solutions with the team: “There are things we are working on. We believe that the car will already be better.”
“I’ve pushed the team in a certain direction and we think we’re moving in that direction. But we’ll see. Once we’ve got the car it’s just a matter of adapting to the car and trying to do it to optimize.”
World Cup candidate 2023? Perez is keeping a low profile
In 2022, however, the Mexican experienced the most successful Formula 1 season of his career. With third place in the drivers’ standings, a pole position and two race wins, he was undoubtedly able to improve on his debut season at Red Bull 2021. But Perez wants to get even better.
When asked about his goals for 2023, he says: “Certainly I can improve on last year. I think we just have to keep improving, learn from the mistakes we made last year and from the things we did have been missing and making sure we’re a more complete team, with the group of engineers and everyone around me.”
“To fight for the title it’s such a long year, 23 races and it’s really important to take it one at a time,” he says. “I think towards the end of the season we found out what we were going to do with the car and that was crucial for us. And I think we’re on the right track with that,” hopes the Mexican.