Perez explains his change in approach for 2024 after challenging campaign last year

Sergio Perez has shared details of the changes he has put into place both on and off track for the 2024 F1 season, having faced a difficult campaign last time out in 2023.

The Mexican started out strong last year, claiming wins at two of the opening four race weekends which included both the Grand Prix and Sprint victories in Azerbaijan. These proved to be his last wins of the campaign though, with Perez struggling to maintain consistency as the calendar progressed.

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While he still managed to claim P2 in the drivers’ championship – helping Red Bull to achieve a one-two in the standings for the first time in their history – Perez ultimately finished 290 points behind team mate Max Verstappen.

Speaking on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, Perez reflected on what went wrong in 2023 and explained what he feels will be different in the season ahead.

“Obviously, it's not like I forget to drive from one weekend to the other,” said the 34-year-old. “There were reasons behind it. We understood them and I think we are in a better shape. I think just being able to focus on the right approach for the entire weekend – getting quali done properly, making that progression.

“I think what happened last year was that we lacked a lot of progression through the weekend. I think being able to dial in and improve from Friday to Saturday, Saturday to Sunday, making those jumps through the weekend will be key, because we always started strong, but we sort of stayed there.

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“It's just important having that evolution and working together with the simulator as well, to try and have a good base back there in Milton Keynes. I think it’s just maximising every single opportunity. It’s a 24-race calendar, and race-by-race, having that evolution and maximising the opportunities. I know if I'm able to do that, I will have a great year.”

As well as thinking about his approach during a race weekend, Perez also made changes off-track in the build-up to the 2024 season in a bid to maintain his energy levels throughout the year.

“Physically, I tried to put more of a training regime in place for the start of the season, because then later on it's all about maintaining, so just trying to get a little bit more time has been beneficial,” he explained.

"I feel comfortable in the car and the other thing is just trying to minimise the travelling that we end up doing. Planning better the simulator days, the days that I go back to Europe or back to Mexico, the schedule for all the sponsors we have in the team. always trying to reduce the travelling.

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“It's quite important because it is 24 races. Right now, we are all fresh and smiley but when we go halfway through the season and still there is another 15 races to go, it's important to keep the energy levels high.”

Perez finished the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in second place and will be hoping for another strong weekend at the second event on the calendar in Saudi Arabia.

To listen to Beyond The Grid, simply hit go on the audio player above or click here to listen via your preferred podcasting platform.