Sergio Perez admits he isn’t ‘super comfortable’ with Red Bull’s RB20

The 2024 season has commenced with Max Verstappen dominating the first two rounds of the championship. On the other hand, Sergio Perez has claimed a pair of podiums as runner-up behind his world-champion teammate. Following the first two rounds, the 34-year-old has given his verdict on how he feels driving Red Bull‘s RB20.

Max Verstappen has been thrashing the field with his dominant drives. Moreover, the Dutchman has a chance of equalling his previous 10-race win streak at the upcoming Australian GP. On the contrary, the last time Sergio Perez stood on the podium’s top step was in Azerbaijan last year. This has raised questions within the paddock about whether the Mexican deserves an F1 seat with Red Bull. Following such speculations, Perez broke his silence and revealed that he isn’t super comfortable with the RB20.

Before the Saudi Arabian GP, Perez gave his honest opinion on his adaptability with the RB20.

At the moment, the car is not super comfortable for me, but I understand a lot more how to maximise the performance.

Sergio Perez said in an interview with RacingNews365

The six-time race winner expressed that he does not feel at home with RB20’s behavior. However, the Red Bull driver reckoned that he could understand more about how the car behaves and its intricacies. Despite an increase in understanding of the car’s fundamentals, Perez is yet to challenge Verstappen as the triple champion is charging his way towards a fourth consecutive title.

Helmut Marko explains Sergio Perez’s weaknesses

Perez has started his season much better than last year by claiming two second-place finishes while fending off other teams. However, the Austrian team is known for its lack of patience, especially with the drivers in the second seat.

Following this, Helmut Marko has taken a jibe at the Mexican for his adaptability issues with Red Bull’s challenger.

There are just more nuances in which they tune differently. Checo used to be fast with cars that were good-natured. It's just that good-natured cars are rarely fast.

Helmut Marko in an interview with Speedweek

The 80-year-old mentioned that the Mexican was comfortable in F1 cars with stable rear-ends. Marko further stated that Perez was faster in such cars because they had a wide range of working windows. However, faster cars(like the RB20) are balanced on a knife edge, and the drivers need to find and work in tandem with the car’s sweet spot, and that’s why Marko feels that Perez is generally slower than the Dutchman.

Despite this, Sergio Perez would be looking towards getting level with Verstappen in terms of raw pace and challenging him for the race wins, as he vowed at the start of the season. However, time will tell how the minister of defense is able to defend his seat from the lucrative options in the driver market for the 2025 F1 season.

In case you missed it:

• “Muchas gracias Carlos!,” Carlos Alcaraz receives heartwarming wishes on his Indian Wells victory from namesake F1 sensation Carlos Sainz
• Nico Hulkenberg claims teams like Haas need to “push their luck” to score points after controversial Saudi Arabian GP

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