Perez targets improvement with ’10 races to turn it around’

Sergio Perez has asserted his desire to drastically improve his season over the remaining races following a problem-solving summer break.

The Mexican driver is contracted to stay with Red Bull for another two years, with the team repeatedly defending him despite a disappointing run of results in the first half of the year. Those performances have seen him face constant pressure with speculation centering on whether other drivers could take his seat.

He began the season on a high as he claimed four podiums in the opening five races, but since then has struggled to keep up with the other frontrunners, facing difficulties in qualifying that have forced Sundays to become intense recovery drives.

As a result the Milton Keynes outfit narrowly cling onto first in the constructors’ standings, while Perez finds himself seventh among the drivers, 146 points adrift of his team mate Max Verstappen.

'I have 10 races to turn it around' - Perez suggest his fightback 'starts here' at Zandvoort

Speaking during media day in Zandvoort, the Mexican admitted that it was “a difficult first half of the season” but he has “always been fully committed to the team”.

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“I have every hope and belief that I can turn around my season in the next 10 races,” he said. “Over the break, we understood a lot of things within the car and the upgrades. In general, I think we were a little bit lost, and now we understand a lot more what’s going on with the car.

“Whether we can fix [the issues] and how long it takes, that is a question mark. Certainly, we know that there’s been an upgrade or two that have put us on the back foot. We have a lot of performance within us, but we need to extract it from the car. If we are able to do that, this season can look very strong.”

SPA, BELGIUM - JULY 28: 5th placed Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and 8th placed Sergio Perez talk in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium (Photo by Bryn Lennon - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images) — Perez has been outqualified by his team mate at every race this year

As the drivers prepare for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, Red Bull are locked in a tight battle for the constructors’ crown, with McLaren and Ferrari close behind them. If Perez can replicate the performances he had at the beginning of the season, his team could be much closer to securing their third consecutive team championship.

He said: “I want to deliver, and I know that I can turn around my season. I always say where I finish in Abu Dhabi is the only thing that matters, so I still have 10 races to turn it around and hopefully get some really strong results and finish on a high. That would be the target, and that really starts here.

“I just want to get back to the form I had at the beginning of the year. I was constantly scoring podiums, fighting for pole positions. I want to be back to that.

“As a team, I want to get Red Bull as the fastest car. We were the fastest car at the beginning of the year and I want to work together with the team to get to that place. It’s what we need.”