Sergio Perez admits a lack of trust in Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull RB-19 led to poor results in 2023

Sergio Perez opened up about losing confidence in the dominant RB-19 after the Monaco GP.

Sergio Perez admits a lack of trust in Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull RB-19 led to poor results in 2023

Sergio Perez (image via Formula1news.co.uk), Adrian Newey (image via The Mirror)

Sergio Perez has failed to live up to expectations in 2023. The Mexican driver has fallen far behind teammate and championship leader Max Verstappen. The 33-year-old has even faced backlash from fans over his dismal results in the last few rounds of the season. Now, Checo has revealed the reason for his lackluster performances.

Perez opened up about losing his trust in the Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull RB-19 after the Monaco GP. The Mexican driver crashed out in Q1 on Saturday and as such was forced to start from the back of the grid. The race did not get better, with the 33-year-old finishing P16. Sergio Perez said, “I think what happened in Monaco probably brought me a step back and it has taken me some time to fully trust the car the way I was doing it.”

YouTube video

The Mexican driver mentioned that this loss of confidence, alongside changing conditions in recent rounds, made it even more difficult to perform. Perez trails his teammate by 99 points in the standings after just ten races. He explained, “And then you add the external factor from the changeable conditions. And then there is a bit more of a discrepancy.” 

FS Video

Discover: Five times Red Bull replaced a driver in the middle of an F1 season

Sergio Perez is going through a rough patch in F1

Sergio Perez, 2023 Monaco GP Qualifying
Sergio Perez, 2023 Monaco GP Qualifying

Checo has failed to get into the Top 10 in Qualifying for the last six races with the fastest car on the grid. The Mexican driver is under pressure, with Verstappen on an impressive streak of seven race wins. The 33-year-old was adamant that he is just going through a rough patch after a good start to the first few rounds of the season.

He said, “I’ve had a rough patch, it’s true but I also had a great start to the season.” Although, Sergio Perez will need to bring in results in the two races before the F1 summer break. Red Bull has brought a major upgrade for the Hungarian GP, with the Milton Keynes-based team confident of gaining a bigger advantage over its rivals. Certainly, this could aid Perez’s efforts this weekend.

Thus, Sergio Perez has admitted that he lacked trust in the car after the Monaco GP. The Mexican driver’s results have declined ever since the race in Monte Carlo. Although, the 33-year-old is working extensively with the team to find his rhythm. It remains to be seen if Perez can turn things around before the start of the summer break.

In case you missed it: