Perez, competitiveness rediscovered
After the long period of crisis experienced in mid-2023 and partially redeemed at the end, the future of Sergio Perez in Red Bull beyond the natural expiration of the contract at the end of 2024 he really seemed to be hanging by a thread. But the Mexican in this first part of the championship he managed to get back on top and accompanied the team's one-two in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and on a very technical track like Suzuka he was able to qualify just 66 thousandths behind Max Verstappen.
Perez also received compliments from Helmut Markowho has never been tender towards him, who commented with a smile: “Perhaps all these discussions on the driver market are proving to be very motivating.”
Perez and Sainz's 'stop inventing'
Asked about marked improvement compared to Suzuka qualifying in 2023, when he found himself eight tenths away from Verstappen, Sergio Perez explained in the press conference: “As Carlos would say (Sainz, ed.) we stopped inventing. We were playing too much with the set-up of the car, while now we have a much better basis. We are much happier and improve over the weekend. Towards the end of last year we discovered that it was better to take a step back, rather than trying to chase the perfect setup too much, because then you start compromising other things. Confidence is returning.”
The reference is to the sentence 'stop inventing' pronounced via radio by Carlos Sainz to his engineer Riccardo Adami at the victorious 2022 British Grand Prix.
The Spaniard snapped at the Italian via radio when he was asked to put a distance of ten cars when the Safety Car returns between Leclerc – leading on used tires – and him (with new tires just replaced), with the aim of slowing down Hamilton's comeback. Sainz resisted and went on to win, with Leclerc crossing the finish line in fourth place.
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