Sergio Perez aims to get back to early season form and curb the gap to teammate Max Verstappen in the final races of the 2023 F1 season

Sergio Perez believes that his target for the next five races is to close the gap to Max Verstappen. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda ahead of the 2023 US Grand Prix, the Mexican driver believes his main struggles with the car have been with the cornering and grip.

With 209 points between him and his teammate, Sergio Perez has struggled more in 2023 than the previous two seasons in Red Bull. The 33-year-old has also been unable to keep up with Red Bull’s other rivals as his second place in the championship is being challenged by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Amidst rumors of being axed next season and potential retirement, Perez is under pressure to retain second place and deliver in the next five races. Asked by Sportskeeda to explain the reasons for the huge gap in terms of performance, he said:

"Yeah, definitely. You know, we cannot have this sort of gap. I think basically go back to the first six races or so and we were fighting with Max and I think that's the target.

"To get back to that level of comfortability with the car... My issues have been real and we've been struggling, you know, with the car bit, and hopefully, next year can be a different story, but also this next five races.”

Asked whether it was the car development or the direction of development, he explained:

"Yeah, I think there is some development in it. And there is also some tuning on it that we've been doing that just is not coming as naturally as it was coming before."

Asked what it would take to make the car feel more natural to him, Sergio Perez said:

“Yeah, I think it's mainly the corner entry, corner entry, grip, that I need to be able to be a little bit different.”

With his teammate dominating the championship and clinching a third title with five rounds left on the calendar, Sergio Perez has been unable to deliver the same level of performance. The Mexican claimed there were issues with the development of the car and tuning which made it feel unnatural.

Perez felt that cornering entry and grip were two areas that he struggled with. While his Dutch teammate has a natural ability to drive around a car’s limitations or adapt to different cars, the Guadalajara-born driver has not been able to acclimatize in a similar manner.

With five rounds left on the calendar, Sergio Perez claimed that reducing the gap to the races was his primary goal. Reflecting on the initial rounds of the season, he felt he was more in tune with the garage next door. He believes in the first six races he was closer to Verstappen in terms of performance.

However, as the season progressed, the Mexican’s performances were inconsistent, resulting in his team having a sit down with him. After a dismal performance in Qatar, Red Bull ensured that he had carried out three days of simulator work before heading to Austin.

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Sergio Perez dismissed rumors of a power struggle within the team

Speculation after the Qatar GP suggested that there was a power struggle between Red Bull’s corporate division and Helmut Marko. Rumors suggested there was also a power struggle between Christian Horner and the Red Bull Senior advisor, where the Austrian had started to lose his grip on the team.

The Mexican driver dismissed the speculation by blaming it on the media. Asked about the power struggle within Red Bull between his bosses, Sergio Perez said:

"Just the same, the same. You know, everyone in Formula One has their own agenda, journalists, the teams. They all want to create the best possible story out there. So the team is in a great moment. Helmut is a very important part of the team, same as Christian. And yeah, I just think more rumors around.”

The real dilemma for Sergio Perez in the next five races is his performances. Despite the yearning to have a better weekend in Austin, the Mexican qualified ninth on the grid for the main race and seventh on the grid for the sprint race.

With a car that has won both championships with several races left on the calendar, it is going to be critical for the Red Bull driver to deliver to save his seat at Red Bull.