Sergio Perez admits he is “taking too long” to get up to speed at Red Bull, who “desperately need” his help in the championship fight.
The Mexican has only finished in the top four once so far in 2021 and on average, he is actually further behind the Dutchman on pace than both Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon before him.
However, the main aim Red Bull has with Perez is to disrupt Mercedes, and that didn’t happen in Spain, allowing Lewis Hamilton to try the two-stop strategy and ultimately take the win.
“I’m just alone in the fight,” Verstappen moaned to Ziggo Sport. “[In Spain], Mercedes could easily make a second stop because there’s a gap behind them.
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“[I need Perez because] then at least they can’t make that second stop and then it’s just towards the end who has the best tyres left. It’s like that though.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner agreed, but does believe Perez’s race in Barcelona was more impacted by Daniel Ricciardo than actually not having the pace.
“Of course we desperately need him to be in that gap so that Mercedes don’t have the strategic options that they had today,” he admitted, “But I’m convinced that will come for Checo as he finds more confidence and time in the car.
“The facts are that obviously Checo had been held up. Obviously, the two lead guys were so far ahead of the rest of the pack, as it were, and gave Lewis a free stop as he had in Hungary, he’s only got to get past his teammate that was never going to be an issue.
“So that’s why we need both cars up there strategically so that option isn’t available to Mercedes.”
As for Perez himself, he’s ruing the time it is taking to adapt to the RB16B, revealing his best lap of the weekend is often the last.
“I think it’s important to keep making those steps and put the whole weekend together,” he explained.
“It just takes me too long to get up to speed. When we get to a new circuit on a Friday, I’m like adapting my style. So I’m still not there with the car yet.
“You see that things are coming, but not together. I think once we are able to put them together, definitely we have the pace to be able to go pretty quick.
“I’m getting more confident with the car, obviously. I mean, every time I get to the end of the weekend, I’m like, ‘f**k, I wish that we can just start with now’.
“But given how limited track time is, it’s very hard to get up to speed.”