F1 | Perez: “If I go fast in Suzuka, I can go fast everywhere”

The expiring contract is not putting pressure on Sergio Perez. Indeed, the fact of having to risk his future in 2024 seems to have become an extra motivation for the Mexican driver. At Suzuka, for the third time in four races, he participated in the Red Bull double, confirming himself as a perfect squire for Max Verstappen.

Precisely what they ask of him in Milton Keynes, where no one expects him to beat the three-time world champion. Not surprisingly, after yesterday's qualifying, team principal Christian Horner said that if this continues, Checo is the preferred option for the future. And for the moment he is deserving it on the field, because his match was very concrete.

He was not surprised by the double start due to the red flag triggered by the accident at the start between Alexander Albon and Daniel Ricciardo, because in both cases he followed the twin RB20. Then in the first stint the pace was not as hoped and McLaren tried to take advantage of it with an undercut to take away second position with Lando Norris. At a distance, however, the Red Bull's pace made the difference, allowing Perez to regain a precious second final position.

“It was a good race for the team. The restart is always an unknown, because then you have to maintain concentration for the entire time you are stationary. My second start was better than the first, but it wasn't enough to pass Max,” said Perez before taking the podium to Mark Webber's microphone.

“Then we lost balance a bit in the first stint and I paid the price for it, because we lacked a bit of pace. At that point I had to push a bit too hard with the second set of mediums to overtake Norris, but then I found myself more comfortable on the hard tires and we found the pace again in the last stint. But I suffered too much with the balance in the first,” he added.

The balance of this first remnant of the season can only be positive: “We are in a good moment. If you remember, last year I probably had my worst weekend here. So if I can go faster on a circuit like this , with lots of high-speed corners, maybe I can be fast everywhere. So, I have to say it was a good weekend,” he concluded.