Perez: Compressed practice time hindering 2021 progress
Sergio Perez feels it is taking him “a bit too long to get up to speed” on Formula 1 race weekends due to the reduced track time this year.
Perez was signed by Red Bull to partner Max Verstappen for this season after his exit from Racing Point, becoming the fourth different driver in the team’s second seat in as many years.
Perez said before the season began that he expected to take four or five races to get up to speed, and has scored less than half as many points as Verstappen so far.
A difficult weekend in Spain saw Perez qualify eighth before recovering to fifth in the race, but he finished 48 seconds off Verstappen, who took his fourth podium in a row.
Perez explained after the race that the lack of track time has left him only feeling fully confident by the end of the weekend. Friday’s F1 practice sessions have been cut from 90 minutes to 60 minutes, giving drivers an hour’s less track time each weekend.
"I'm getting more confident with the car obviously,” Perez said following Sunday’s race in Spain.
“Every time I get to the end of the weekend, I'm like, ‘I wish we can just start it now’. [With] how limited track time is these days, it's very hard to get up to speed.
“But I think this weekend was a particular one from yesterday, not being able to be at my 100%, it's a big difference.
“So yeah, I’ll just forget this one and go back again in Monaco, learn from what we've done and hopefully come back stronger.”
Perez is yet to finish a race any higher than fourth, and although he was able to qualify second at Imola, he downplayed it being a sign that he had unlocked the full performance of the Red Bull RB16B yet.
Perez said that he wanted to keep making progress so he could string a full weekend together and hit the ground running, cutting down the time it takes him to get up to speed.
“It’s important to keep making those steps and put the whole weekend together,” Perez said.
“It just takes me a bit too long to get up to speed. When we went to a new circuit, the full Friday, I'm adapting my style. So I'm not there with the car yet.
“You see that things are coming, but not together. But I think once we are able to put them together, definitely we have the pace to be able to go pretty quick.”
Since Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from the team at the end of 2018, the second Red Bull driver has scored just two podium finishes, both coming courtesy of Albon last year. By comparison, Verstappen has picked up 34 podiums in the same period.
Asked what he could learn from comparing his data to Verstappen’s, Perez was hopeful it would show him how to adjust his driving style to get the most out of the car.
“[It can show] how to drive the car, really, and how to get the maximum out of it, and how to adapt myself to a driving style,” Perez said.
“That’s the thing that I'm working on the most. And every circuit is different. It’s not like you learn something here and it will work in Monaco.”
Related video
About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Sergio Perez |
| Teams | Red Bull Racing |
| Author | Luke Smith |
How Brabham’s one-hit wonder was boxed into a corner
The Brabham BT46B raced once, won once, then vanished – or did it? STUART CODLING reveals the story of the car which was never actually banned…
The changes Barcelona needs to provide a modern-day F1 spectacle
Formula 1’s visits to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya over recent years have been met with familiar criticisms despite tweaks here and there to the track to improve racing. With the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix largely going the same way, proper solutions need to be followed to achieve F1’s wider targets
Spanish Grand Prix Driver Ratings
Often described as Formula 1's laboratory, the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona gave the clearest demonstration yet of the pecking order in 2021. And it's the key discrepancies from that order which illuminate who is excelling, and who needs to hit the reset button.
How Red Bull's deja vu set Hamilton on the winning path in Spain
An aggressive first corner move from Max Verstappen appeared to have set the Red Bull driver on course for victory in the Spanish Grand Prix. But canny strategy from Mercedes - combined with the absence of Red Bull's number two from the lead group - allowed Lewis Hamilton to pull off a demoralising reversal
The Barcelona practice times that prove Red Bull has hidden pace
Lewis Hamilton led the way in Friday practice for the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix, but there was one major encouraging sign for Red Bull. However, making good on that gain will require Max Verstappen to avoid repeating a mistake that left him well down the FP2 order...
Why McLaren doesn’t doubt Ricciardo can escape his ‘dark’ place
Three points finishes from as many starts represents a decent opening innings on paper, but Daniel Ricciardo has endured a tough start to his McLaren career - only magnified his teammate's excellent form. Yet both he and the team have good reason to expect a turnaround soon.
What needs to “change” for Red Bull is ending Verstappen’s errors
OPINION: Going up against the dominant force of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton was always going to demand the best from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. But after making a couple more errors during the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Dutch driver showed there's a small gap he still needs to close in the 2021 Formula 1 title fight.
The "subtle" Red Bull upgrades that kept it in the Portugal F1 mix
Red Bull's Portuguese Grand Prix fortunes were decidedly second best to Mercedes', but the result skews the potential that the team had at Portimao. With a new set of updates, the team looks good going forward into the rest of 2021's spicy F1 competition
