Red Bull star Sergio Perez adamant about fighting for his F1 future after retirement rumors - “The easiest thing would be to walk out”

Sergio Perez believes retiring from the sport is not the easy route he wishes to take after the performance slump in 2023.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, the Mexican felt that despite the difficult mental battle behind the scenes, he enjoyed the challenge of getting back to his competitive form.

To a large extent, the mental spiral resulting from a slump in performance has fueled most of the speculation surrounding the future of Sergio Perez at Red Bull or in the sport itself.

Since 2021, there has been a significant gap between the Mexican and his teammate Max Verstappen, but it worsened in the 2023 season. Given that the team would need both of their drivers in top form if their rivals were closer or the field were to bunch up, the 33-year-old's form has become a concern for the team.

Reminded that the retirement rumors were a result of a tough battle on a personal level, Sergio Perez commented:

“Yeah, it is it is difficult of course, you know, it's not ideal when you go through a patch difficult period of on your career. But I just love the challenge of getting back at it, you know, I think the easiest thing will be to just walk out of it. But that's not me, that's not who I am. And I will not give up."

He added:

"I will have zero doubts that I will be back then to my to my level to my best level and that is my my only target I have in mind. I not even think about retirement or anything, anything like that because that's that's just the easy route.”

Asked what could be done differently in the next five rounds, he replied:

“Definitely, I think the last two races in particularly, we were just lost, you know. And I think we, we are back at it. I have very good days with my engineers, I have the full support of the team. I think it's time to really pull it back.”

Describing his last two races, Sergio Perez claimed his side of the garage was lost when it came to the setup and being able to adjust the balance. Explaining the tough battle internally on the mental side, the Mexican enjoyed the challenge of getting back up to the top.

With retirement and a potential Red Bull dismissal doing the rounds in the rumor mill, the Mexican felt quitting was the easier route he wished not to take.

Determined to get back to a more competitive form, the 33-year-old was confident he could perform better in the next five rounds to change the imagery of his season’s performance.

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Sergio Perez explains the discussion with Red Bull and Christian Horner after Qatar

Explaining the discussion with his bosses and the team, Sergio Perez claims they were collectively trying to pinpoint where it went wrong in terms of performance. He explained that they were lost in terms of setup at a high-speed circuit like Qatar, where nailing the car setup was crucial.

The 33-year-old felt the sprint weekend format did not help either, with only a single practice session available at hand to get an understanding of the car. The Mexican confirmed speculation about Red Bull making him carry out simulator duties for three days in a row prior to the USGP.

Asked about the conversation Christian Horner wished to have with him after Qatar, Sergio Perez explained:

“Yeah, well, basically, it was just important for us to understand where it went so wrong. And once we go into in this fast weekends, you know, with the with the sprint event, for example, in Qatar, you don't have a good setup and thats where you can easily get lost."

He continued:

"And it's what happened to us. So I think we just got pretty lost in in Qatar. So, yeah, I mean, but this is how the sport is, you know, you have a good weekend, bad weekend, we haven't been able to really get that consistency throughout the year. But there are still five races where things can change for us.”

Asked if he was asked to carry out simulator work for three days, Sergio Perez confirmed saying:

“Yes. It was pretty intense, you know, but it was not just with the simulator. It was with meetings with engineers, a whole group of engineers. It was very positive actually to do that and give just my feedback in person to all every single engineer out there.”

Given the sprint weekend in Austin at the Circuit of the Americas, Sergio Perez will have to maximize every session available to change the narrative surrounding his performance.

Known for a bumpy track surface and a mix of medium and low-speed corners, getting the cornering and grip right can be crucial, which happen to be two of the areas the Mexican has struggled in.

With Lewis Hamilton only 30 points behind him and Fernando Alonso 41 points further, it is going to be critical for the Red Bull driver to be competitive every weekend in the next five races left on the calendar. Losing second place in the championship could change the narrative of his career trajectory in the sport.