Red Bull put an end to weeks of speculation by backing Sergio Perez after the Belgian Grand Prix, confirming Max Verstappen’s struggling team-mate will remain in his seat after the summer break.
Perez has been struggling to perform in the RB20 since May, and while Verstappen has been able to limit the damage ever since rival teams caught up with Red Bull, Perez has been costing the Milton Keynes-based squad buckets of points in the title fight.
Replacing the Mexican was a serious option after he collected just 28 points since May’s Imola race, but Red Bull has now decided to back him instead.
That doesn’t change the reality that the world champion outfit desperately needs Perez to pick up the pace as McLaren closes in. So, now it has doubled down on Perez, what more can it do to help him out of his form dip?
Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com, Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache suggests further upgrades to the 2024 car will be aimed at adding performance in a way that both drivers can make use of it, which was part of the idea behind its Hungary update package too.
When asked if Perez struggles more than Verstappen whenever Red Bull’s cars become more difficult to operate, he replied: “One part of the explanation can be that, that is correct.”
“What we want is the quickest car, but in a way that can be used by the drivers, that is the main aim.
“If we make the car quicker in a way that Checo can use it, that means that both drivers will be able to extract the maximum out of it. Even if both drivers have different needs or preferences, the requirements for the car are still very similar.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“Fundamentally it’s the same. For sure there can be differences in driving styles, but we will not use the development of the car for that. We will use the set-up of the car.”
Wache explained that Red Bull has seen “some tendencies” as to why Perez is struggling more with the car’s handling than Verstappen, a deficit that goes far beyond his intrinsic pace gap to the Dutchman.
But reproducing those traits in the simulator is extremely difficult with this generation of ground-effect cars, which has been a common issue across the paddock.
“We try to see some tendencies, but it is very difficult to highlight them because last year he was struggling as well sometimes, so it is difficult for us to find,” Wache said.
“The main problem we have is that we try to reproduce the car and all these things in simulations, but it doesn’t mean that it simulates exactly what the car is doing in all conditions.
“The interaction with the tyres is very difficult to reproduce, even if we try our best. Improving these areas is an important part of our process.”
With the current era of low-slung cars, the solution goes far beyond adding downforce as cars are so difficult to keep balanced between high and low-speed corners.
Wache explained that the inherent nature of these regulations means there is a bigger risk of performance upgrades making the cars harder to balance and therefore more uncomfortable to drive, which has affected Perez’s confidence much more than Verstappen’s.
“That is just a risk with these types of regulations,” Wache added. “It is what we have seen from some other teams as well, Mercedes for example have said that the balance was a big issue for them in previous years. Even McLaren had it at the beginning of this season.
“The balance with these cars is quite tricky to achieve, because if you create downforce in a specific area of the car that you cannot rebalance mechanically, then it is difficult to use that gain.”
