Red Bull's Helmut Marko outlines key difference in Sergio Perez's approach this season

Sergio Perez is starting 2024 with a new approach, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed. The 80-year-old explains that Perez is following Max Verstappen's set-up choices more closely than in previous years.

Despite starting last year's campaign with two race wins, Perez soon found himself in a negative spiral. The 34-year-old struggled to optimize his car, a battle that became most obvious in qualifying as he suffered a series of Q2 eliminations.

Pressure began to build on the Mexican driver, especially as Daniel Ricciardo returned with AlphaTauri mid-season.

However, after securing P2 in the standings last season, his first two results to start 2024 are far more encouraging. According to Helmut Marko, this is because he is taking a different approach to his setup:

"This year, he is no longer experimenting but starts with more or less the same basic tuning as Max [Verstappen]," Marko wrote for Speedweek.

Formula 1 is a sport where small tweaks can make a huge difference, and this can be applied to driver set-up. However, it is easy for drivers to lose their way as they pursue a particular direction.

Daniel Ricciardo's time at McLaren is perhaps the best example of this, with the Australian admitting that he was constantly second-guessing himself at the Woking-based team.

Sergio Perez faced a similar predicament last season as he fought to extract the same potential from his car as Verstappen.

Ultimately, Red Bull decided against changing its driver line-up for the 2024 season. Still, the 6-time race winner will want to avoid the extensive speculation and uncertainty that characterized last year's campaign.

To achieve this, he seems open to a more flexible philosophy in terms of weekend preparation.

Marko explains fine margins Sergio Perez must adapt to

However, it seems that pursuing a similar approach to the reigning World Champion is yielding results:

"There are just more nuances in which they tune differently. Checo used to be fast with cars that were good-natured. It's just that good-natured cars are rarely fast," Marko concluded.

The extreme nature of Max Verstappen's driving style is well-documented at this stage. For many of his teammates, matching the Dutchman's intensity and demands from the car has been a tremendous challenge.

As it stands, Sergio Perez is doing a solid job of keeping the gap to his teammate at a respectable range.

This is an especially important target to satisfy in 2024, owing to the volatility of the driver market.

For now, Sergio Perez can be satisfied with helping secure 1-2 finishes in the RB20 machine. With that said, he must ensure this form continues across the season.

Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda's VCARB 01 seems less competitive than most observers anticipated to start the season. This gives the 34-year-old some breathing space and a good chance to cement his position at the Austrian outfit.