Sergio Perez issues BRUTALLY HONEST verdict over F1 struggles at Red Bull

Sergio Perez

Perez issues BRUTALLY HONEST verdict over F1 struggles at Red Bull

Sergio Perez has been critical of his own driving standards since Red Bull rolled out new upgrades earlier this year

Dan McCarthy

Friday 1 September 2023 20:57

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Sergio Perez has admitted that he has failed to adapt as quickly as he would have liked to Red Bull's new upgrades, as he seeks to bridge the gap between himself and runaway team-mate Max Verstappen.

Red Bull have been utterly dominant in 2023, winning all 13 races as they look set to storm to yet another world championship title.

Despite the clear advantage of the Red Bull car, Perez has often struggled to keep up with his younger team-mate and that has led to speculation throughout 2023 that he could be replaced at the end of the season.

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Recent results have been better for the Mexican, but he trails Verstappen by 138 points and is looking over his shoulder at Fernando Alonso in third.

Perez: I have had to adapt at Red Bull

Perez has been dominated by Verstappen this season

While last year the upgrades appeared to take the car away from his driving style and more towards Verstappen's, he is accepting full responsibility for this year's struggles.

"I think every driver through their career or through each season, you get some upgrades to the car that adapt easier to your driving style than others," Perez said to motorsport.com.

"Sometimes you will put a part on it and you will straight away go faster with it. Sometimes you will have to adapt to it.

"I haven't been able to adapt as quickly as I should and I had to change my driving style a bit to adapt into the car more than in the beginning of the season, for example, when things were coming more naturally."

Verstappen has won the last nine grands prix and looks all but certain to collect a third straight title.

Perez's two race wins this year came in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan and he has managed to finish on the podium three times in the last five races.