Sergio Perez is looking to improve his form and consistency in the remainder of the 2023 Formula 1 season following a disappointing run of results for the Red Bull driver.
The Mexican had failed to make Q3 in each of the previous five races, before breaking the pattern at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. Perez qualified ninth and finished third making a series of bold overtakes during the race, hinting that he may be finding his mojo back.
And after admitting that the title contest against his Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, has all but gone, he is now focusing on regaining the form that saw him win two of the opening five races with two pole positions.
“I think that for the team it has been a great first half of the year,” Perez said to the media. “On my side, I think I had four, or five, bad weekends where I didn’t maximise the full result that I had on the table.
“That has cost me a lot of points but I had a very strong start to the season. I think in the second half of the year, I want to bring my form back and be able to score as many points as possible.”
Perez points to close field-spread as a factor
Following the change to ground-effect cars in 2022, on the back of the cost-cap which was established in 2021, the field has closed up considerably compared to previous generations of F1 cars.
At the Hungarian GP, Logan Sargeant qualified 20th for Williams and was 2.6 seconds down on Lewis Hamilton‘s pole position time.
In the final year of the previous generation, 2020, Sargeant‘s gap to pole would have been good enough to get into Q2, meaning that the margin for error is smaller and Perez alluded to this as a factor for his form.
“The margins in qualifying are very small,” Perez added. “So if you don’t get Q1 right, you could very easily be out.
“We saw it last weekend, George [Russell] was out in Q1 and Lewis was on pole so it can just happen to anyone out there.”
