Red Bull discover answers for Perez mid-season slump

Sam Hall
Thursday 6 October 2022 12:24

Sergio Perez is confident answers have finally been unearthed as to the cause of his F1 slump this season.

The Mexican put himself firmly in title contention after winning the Monaco Grand Prix in May, leading to him trailing Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen by just 15 points. Following this success, however, results were then harder to come by.

Upgrades to the RB18 appeared to aid Verstappen more than the 32-year-old, resulting in a six-race spell with just one podium appearance.

Perez emerged from such a poor run in emphatic fashion with what has been hailed as the best performance of his F1 career with his victory in Singapore on Sunday.

Explaining the effort that has gone into delivering his turnaround, Perez said: “Over the break [after Monza], I went to the factory.

"We were in contact pretty much every single day throughout the break, exchanging emails and going through a few bits here and there to really get to the bottom of things.

“And we managed to understand what has changed for us, how we can bring back what we had in terms of competitiveness at the start of the season.”

Asked if the gains had been found within himself or the car, Perez added: “It’s a bit of both. You don’t go from being so competitive to not so, just because of yourself."

Speaking at the FIA press conference on Thursday, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc conceded to being fearful Red Bull could dominate this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix with pace similar to that the team enjoyed in Belgium.

On that occasion, Verstappen scored the win by over 17 seconds after starting from 14th on the grid.

Perez grinned: “That would be amazing if we are able to do the same performance. We will see.”