Sergio Perez admits Red Bull F1 driver must improve ‘massively’ in one area

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Sergio Perez has now admitted one area where the Red Bull driver wants to improve ‘massively’ this year after enduring a few ‘bad weekends’ during the 2023 F1 season.

The 33-year-old started last season with eyes on rivalling teammate Max Verstappen for the drivers’ championship. Perez even won two of the opening four Grand Prix and the Sprint in Baku. But the Mexican’s dreams quickly evaporated while Verstappen dominated Formula 1.

Perez failed to win another Grand Prix following his double delight in Azerbaijan. He further only finished on the podium at six of the following 18 rounds. The Guadalajara native would also end the year with fewer than half of Verstappen’s title-winning 575 points with his 285.

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez had ‘a few bad weekends’ in the 2023 F1 season

Verstappen dealt a huge mental blow to Perez’s title bid at the 2023 Miami GP. The 26-year-old beat his pole-sitting Red Bull teammate to the win from P9 on the grid with ease. Perez had no answer to the Dutchman’s pace and followed that result with P16 at the Monaco GP.

Perez’s plight picked up after crashing in Q1 in Monte Carlo. He would also fail to reach Q3 at eight of the 18 rounds after the Miami GP – including in each of the first five after the Hard Rock Stadium event where the six-time Grand Prix winner took the third pole of his career.

Yet Perez has described the 2023 Qatar GP as his ‘worst weekend ever’ in Formula 1. Losail played host to the title-deciding round as Verstappen won his third crown when Perez, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon collided in a race-ending incident fighting for P8 in the Sprint.

Sergio Perez admits the one area where he must improve ‘massively’ in 2024

Upon reflection, Perez concedes he had ‘a few’ disappointing rounds over the 2023 season. But the Mexican now wants to use those frustrations to fuel his 2024 campaign and look to improve. One area Perez particularly wants to work on is developing with Red Bull’s F1 car.

“I had a few bad weekends,” Perez has admitted to Auto Hebdo. “We started the year very strong in the first five or six races. But then we couldn’t progress with the car. This is something I missed this year, and want to massively improve next year.

“The problems we had this year gave me a better understanding of what I was doing with the settings, how I was setting the car up, what direction I should go when I had problems. So, this is something that will definitely make us stronger next year.”

A few factors helped Perez to enjoy a strong start last year, most evidently that the Red Bull driver’s wins in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan came at street tracks. He also got pole in Miami at a street circuit. But Perez felt Red Bull’s car development took their RB19 away from him.

“There is no secret that as the car developed, I struggled a little bit more,” Perez told Sky Sports in August. “Things were not coming naturally anymore and I had to go very deep on my driving style, adapt to it quite a bit, and change it because the car has simply changed.”