Sergio Perez urges the need to maintain ‘high level’ despite ‘fun start’ to the 2023 F1 season

Sergio Perez feels that he and the team need to keep up with the performance they have put on at the start of the 2023 season of Formula 1, heading into the Australian Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez had quite an amazing weekend in Jeddah after scoring pole position during qualifying and winning the race. The Mexican called it one of his aims for the season, to achieve consistency throughout the race weekends.

However, he believes there will be a lot of work required in the season to maintain this and achieve the desired results. Perez said:

"I was massively proud of the team and our performance in Jeddah. I had a complete weekend and that was one of my aims this season, to be consistent across all three days. But we are only two races into the season and have to keep pushing to make sure we continue this great start to the season."

The Bahrain Grand Prix saw Sergio Perez finish P2 and he had the top step on the podium in Saudi Arabia, which promises a very strong start to the season. However, talking about the track and the performance for the upcoming races, he feels that it will be yet another challenge.

Perez marked the fact that the track in Australia will be quite different, and though they have a satisfactory pace, he revealed that they need to check on the reliability too. Coincidentally, Max Verstappen retired from the race in Melbourne after an engine issue in 2022. Sergio Perez added:

"Bahrain and Saudi are very different tracks to each other and Australia will be another challenge for us and this car. We have great pace and are working so hard together to make sure our reliability is there too. It’s been a fun start to 2023 but that won’t matter if we don’t maintain our high level."

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What challenges will Sergio Perez face if he keeps up his current form in the season?

As Sergio Perez mentioned, though the start of the season has been quite fun and satisfying, it is important for him to stay consistent and keep up this performance for the length of the season.

Red Bull's performance is currently the strongest on the grid, and if this domination continues for the rest of the season, there is only one hurdle in Sergio Perez's way, his teammate. Both he and Verstappen have shared heated moments on the track in the 2022 season, and as it goes for this season, there were quite a few things to note in Jeddah.

The double world champion, after being unable to catch up with this teammate in P1, set the fastest lap at the end of the race to stay ahead in the championship standings. With no other team competing for victories, Red Bull could end up battling among themselves, however, many changes are expected during the season.