After assisting Max Verstappen to the championship last year, Sergio Perez is targeting his own title bid in 2022.
The Mexican finished a massive 205.5 points behind his Dutch teammate in his first season at Red Bull, but several key moments across the year were enough to see Verstappen beat Hamilton to the crown in Abu Dhabi.
However, Checo insists he isn't just at the team to be a No.2 and hopes the fresh sheet of paper for 2022 can help him close the gap.
“Next season I want to be in the fight for the World Championship myself,” Perez said on The Edge podcast.
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“I think the main thing I lacked [last year] was consistency, to constantly be at 100% with the car.
“I have to raise my game for next season and hopefully we are all able to go forward.
“We start with new rules, with new cars, we all start from zero, so that’s the main thing for me, to get there."
Another reason why Perez is confident of a much stronger 2022 is the experience he gathered in his first year at the Milton Keynes-based squad.
“We already have a baseline that we can work from and improve that one so that makes a huge difference,” he was quoted by GPFans.
“I already know the people. I already know who to ask what and how to get the most out of every single individual around me. That’s a very different picture.
“Red Bull really pushes you to the maximum. Not just the drivers, [but] the engineers, the mechanics, the team bosses," Sergio noted.
“Everyone is flat-out working to deliver the perfect result, the perfect moment for everyone. It’s been a tremendous experience and it has brought me to another level as a driver.”
Indeed, Perez has no doubts about his ability to succeed with Red Bull.
“I’m here because I fully believe I can be a World Champion and because I enjoy working with my team. I’m very thankful to Red Bull for extending my contract,” he said.
“I really enjoy working with the team, with this group of people, with the engineers, the Red Bull culture and the brand itself. Red Bull is a huge brand.
“It’s a lot of work relative to what I was used to at other teams, but I really feel a great part of it. I work great with Max, with the race engineers, with all the team in general.
“To me, at this stage in my career, I think the most important is that I enjoy it. The time I don’t enjoy it is when I [would] have to go home.”
