Sergio Perez blames F1’s new ground-effect cars for ‘difficulty’ in overtaking

Sergio Perez highlighted the added downforce in the 2023 F1 cars.

Sergio Perez blames F1’s new ground-effect cars for ‘difficulty’ in overtaking

Sergio Perez (image via News18)

Formula 1 reintroduced ground-effect in 2022’s new regulations. The main aim of the new cars was to facilitate overtaking after years of underwhelming on-track action with the previous regulations. However, the 2023 season has not provided enough overtaking as was initially expected. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez has now blamed the rules for this issue.

Perez who currently sits second in the championship claimed that overtaking has become more challenging this season. The Mexican driver has been on multiple recovery drives so far this season after some disappointing results in Qualifying. Nevertheless, Sergio Perez has managed to stay at the runner-up spot behind teammate Max Verstappen.

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The Mexican driver reckoned that teams have managed to extract more downforce from the cars this year. This has proved to be a hindrance for drivers as the added downforce has made overtaking tougher. He said, “I think this year has become a little more difficult. These cars are generating a little more downforce and by generating that little more downforce, the car behind suffers a little more to continue.”

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Can Sergio Perez bounce back?

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen (image via F1)
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen (image via F1)

Checo had a good start to the 2023 season with two race wins in the first few rounds. Unfortunately, the Mexican driver failed to match Verstappen over the course of the first half of the season. Perez now trails behind the two-time world champion by 125 points after just 10 races. Certainly, this is not expected from a driver who is racing with the fastest car on the grid.

Sergio Perez’s contract with Red Bull runs till 2024. However, the Milton Keynes-based team has had a reputation for ending contracts prematurely with drivers in its camp. The latest victim was Nyck de Vries who was ousted from AlphaTauri. As such, Perez will need to ensure that he improves on his results if he wants to secure his seat alongside Max Verstappen.

Thus, Sergio Perez has put the blame on the new cars for the lack of overtaking in 2023. The Mexican driver insisted that the added downforce across the grid this season has proved to hamper the cars behind with drivers struggling to make a move on their rivals. Although, it remains to be seen how this situation evolves over the course of this season.

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