Pierre Wache explains why it’s going to be ‘very difficult’ to help Sergio Perez improve this season

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Sergio Perez will head to the Dutch Grand Prix after the Formula 1 summer break knowing that Red Bull may have offered him his final lifeline.

After months of underperformance that have put Red Bull’s Constructors’ Championship hopes on the line, he’s been given one last chance to prove he has what it takes to support Max Verstappen on his quest to win a fourth straight title.

Since his podium in the Sprint Race in Miami and a 4^th-place finish in the subsequent Grand Prix, Sergio Perez has failed to finish in the top six of any race.

Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg have both managed that feat since then and the German driver has almost matched his points tally for Haas in the same period.

Red Bull’s cars are notoriously difficult to drive, typically suiting Verstappen’s driving style to such an extent that most of his teammates generally struggle.

However, the advantage they had last year in particular meant that even if Perez couldn’t extract 100% of the pace within the RB19, he was still regularly finishing on the podium.

In an interview with Motorsport.com, Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache has spoken about how the team plan to try and help Perez going forward.

The updates Red Bull have put on the car this year haven’t been as effective as those delivered by McLaren and Mercedes and as a result, they’ve closed any performance gap that once existed.

Unfortunately, Wache has explained why it’s going to be ‘very difficult’ to help Perez get the most out of the RB20 after the summer break.

Red Bull’s testing capacity behind the scenes may not be up to the task of identifying exactly what the Mexican is finding so tricky this season.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Sergio Perez’s life outside F1 from net worth to nickname

Pierre Wache on ‘very difficult’ task of helping Sergio Perez this season

Perez finally managed to extract some one-lap pace out of his Red Bull in Belgium, qualifying on the front row of the grid although still some way behind Verstappen before his penalty.

However, in the race itself, he couldn’t match his teammate or the cars around him and sunk to 8^th once again before George Russell’s penalty.

Talking about how the team plan to try and help Perez, Wache said: “We try to see some tendencies, but it is very difficult to highlight them because last year he was struggling as well sometimes, so it is difficult for us to find.

“The main problem we have is that we try to reproduce the car and all these things in simulations, but it doesn’t mean that it simulates exactly what the car is doing in all conditions.

“The interaction with the tyres is very difficult to reproduce, even if we try our best. Improving these areas is an important part of our process.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

How many races Sergio Perez might have left to save his Red Bull seat?

Perez entered the summer break knowing Red Bull were meeting to discuss – among other things – whether he should see out the rest of the season.

Daniel Ricciardo was lined up to replace Perez but his indifferent form throughout the year failed to force the team’s hand and offered him a promotion.

However, that doesn’t mean that Perez is safe until the end of the season and can look forward to 2025 already.

Red Bull’s statement was worded very cleverly and may give them another opportunity to bring in a new driver later in the year.

Perez may have just four races to save himself with two tracks he’s typically very strong at – Baku and Singapore – within that block of Grand Prix.

F1 takes another break after those races which could be the perfect time if Red Bull and Perez can’t find a way to get the RB20 to work for him to parachute in another driver.