Sergio Perez has insisted that he is aiming to fight for the Drivers’ Championship title in 2024, despite heading into the 2023 season finale with fewer than half the points of Red Bull team-mate and now three-time world champion Max Verstappen.
The Mexican driver looked like a genuine title challenger after the first four rounds of the season, taking impressive victories with measured performances on the streets of Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. Those results meant that just one point separated the pair ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
Therefore, when Perez clinched pole position in Miami with Verstappen way down the order, it looked as though the 33-year-old had a shot at walking away from the United States with the championship lead. What followed, however, was a decisive victory for his team-mate following an underwhelming drive.
From there Verstappen embarked on a record-breaking ten-race winning streak as he put his third Drivers’ Championship crown beyond any reasonable doubt by the time the summer break had rolled around. Perez, on the other hand, is still waiting for a third win of the season.
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Discussing his feelings towards the 2024 season, Perez stated: “I already got second place. My main interest is to improve one place further and I am aware of the challenge that this represents. We have to use the winter break to start the season with a good feeling and maintain this level throughout the season.”
Heading into the final third of the season there were questions surrounding Perez’s short-term Red Bull future, let alone his ability to fight Verstappen for the title in 2024. Thankfully he has bounced back with more composed drives in Brazil and Las Vegas to seal second place in the standings and secure his seat for next year.
According to Perez, the recovery of his form can be attributed to an in-depth analysis performed by him and the team after a disappointing weekend in Qatar, during which Verstappen was crowned champion.
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Explaining the process, Checo said: “I had a really deep [dive] in Qatar, where I went back to the factory for a week and went through in very much detail with all the engineers and we understood a lot of things that we were doing to compensate the weaknesses that we had.
“We were probably taking the wrong approach with the car, trying to compensate them too much with car set-up. I felt at that time that I needed it. We were just getting lost weekend in, weekend out, so it was just important to step back and really look in detail. And I think since then our season has transformed completely.”
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