Pérez focuses on reviving form following Red Bull’s car insights
ZANDVOORT, Netherlands -- Sergio Pérez is determined to rejuvenate his Formula One form, buoyed by Red Bull's recent discovery of missteps in the development of its car.
Prior to the summer break, Pérez's tenure at Red Bull was clouded by speculation, but the team decided against making a mid-year driver change.
"It was pure speculation," Pérez stated on Thursday.
The decision came on the first day after the summer hiatus, following a meeting between team boss Christian Horner and Red Bull racing advisor Helmut Marko.
"The meeting had nothing to do with the drivers; it was all about performance. I already said everything I had to regarding the speculation. I'm fully committed to the team," Pérez affirmed. "I've got a contract, and I'm fully committed to Red Bull and to turning things around. I've said everything I have to."
Horner, addressing the team post-meeting, highlighted that Pérez faces a series of races where he has previously excelled.
Pérez acknowledged it was his responsibility to turn things around, and not just rely on past successes at familiar circuits.
"I think there are some good circuits where I've had good races coming up, but we've already been to circuits where I've had good races," Pérez noted. "The most important thing is to get myself in the window where I can extract the potential of the car. It's still a Red Bull, and it's a b***** fast car, you know? It's just been tricky lately to extract the maximum.
"We've been quite hard on the tyres. There's a lot of things to improve in the next ten races."
Red Bull has been thoroughly investigating the issues that have turned its once-dominant car into a competitor in a three-way fight with McLaren and Mercedes for the constructors' championship in recent races.
Pérez has faced significant struggles since Red Bull's car regressed at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May, but he feels the team has unraveled some of those problems during the summer break.
"It was a very positive break for Red Bull. We were able to find a lot of stuff, and I think we know at least where we are with the car right now. There have been an upgrade or two that took us on the wrong path," he explained.
"Looking back now, we know exactly how the car is working, which is a good thing because it was not so clear in recent races. Whether we can fix it and return to the level we had earlier is another question, but it's very positive in that regard."
He concluded, "It's hard to explain the amount of detail, but it's not like at the beginning of the year I was a much better driver than I am now. Certainly, there have been some things that didn't go my way and were hurting me more, and we were probably not extracting the maximum out of the car in that regard."
Pérez remains optimistic and committed to extracting the car’s full potential to improve Red Bull’s standing in the championship race.
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