“We definitely will get close to them”: Sergio Perez believes Red Bull can get “on par” with their F1 rivals as the race to the championship heats up

Sergio Perez believes that fixing issues on the RB20 could help Red Bull take the fight to McLaren. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda ahead of the 2024 Dutch GP, the Mexican driver claimed that making the RB20 faster didn't necessarily make it easier to extract performance from the car.

McLaren is currently the benchmark in terms of speed and a stable car. Their car has suited all circuits and since the Miami GP, they have clearly had a pace advantage on most race weekends until the summer break.

Perez believes Red Bull can take a step ahead of McLaren provided they fix their issues on the RB20. He claimed that despite all the data and engineering advancements, understanding the cars and optimizing them is not a straightforward task.

Asked by Sportskeeda if Red Bull can be expected to take the fight to McLaren or take a step ahead in the upcoming races, Perez said:

“I think if we are able to fix our problems, we’ll definitely get close to them and we’ll be on par. And then we can recharge probably and be stronger than them. Especially in the race we can take a nice step forward.”

When reminded that China and Imola were the last race weekends when it felt like Red Bull had an advantage, Sergio Perez said:

“Yeah, yeah, but yeah, but like everything in these cars you know it's not so clear and even for all the engineers with all the data they have things are not so straightforward. To just say okay if we go back to the Imola is a car quicker, it's hard to put it that way. But there's certainly I think we have made the car quicker definitely but probably harder to extract the maximum.”

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Sergio Perez believes that circuits in the second half of the calendar should play in his favor

Sergio Perez believes that some of the upcoming circuits on the calendar have suited him in the past which could help him turn around his performance slump. He felt that the RB20 is still a very quick car but optimizing it and being able to extract the maximum has been a tricky affair.

He claimed tire management was one of the difficult areas he needed to improve upon. Effectively, the 34-year-old felt that getting the car to work in his optimum window is the underlying issue hampering his performance. On the other hand, Max Verstappen has managed to maneuver around the limitations of the car to be able to optimize it to its fullest potential.

Asked if the circuits up next in the calendar will make it easier to turn around his performance woes, Perez said:

“Yeah, I think there's some good circuits where I've had good races, but we already been to circuits where I've had good races. I think the most important is we get myself in the window where I can extract the potential of the car. Because definitely I mean it's still a Red Bull and it's a bloody fast car you know. But it's just been tricky lately to extract the maximum we've been quite hard on the tires. So yeah I think there is a lot of things to improve in the next 10 races and how are you feeling about the new contract you're having a break I'm feeling happy now.”

Sergio Perez is currently seventh in the driver's standings and has scored a total of 131 points, but is 146 points behind his Dutch teammate who leads the championship. In the constructors' title, Red Bull is 42 points ahead of McLaren.

Although the Driver’s title lead is 78 points, it is the constructors championship that seems to be under serious threat. Red Bull has brought some minor updates to their car in Zandvoort, but the race will be a better indicator of their performance.

Despite Red Bull retaining the multiple race winner for the remainder of the 2024 season, Perez's performance in the next ten races and retaining the constructor's championship are going to be key to defining his future.