Sergio Perez says he isn’t concerned about the threat posed by Daniel Ricciardo being back on the grid despite the Australian’s intention to take his Red Bull Racing seat.
Ricciardo is Red Bull Racing’s reserve driver this season but has been loaned to the sister AlphaTauri team to replace the ousted Nyck de Vries for the rest of the year. The sudden switch was made after Ricciardo set a time quick enough to have been on the front row of the British Grand Prix during a Pirelli tire test at Silverstone last week.
The test came just days after Perez started the British race 16th, having been knocked out of Q1 for the third time this season. It was also the sixth time in 10 rounds he had failed to qualify inside the top 10 for a grand prix.
The culmination of his Saturday difficulties is a 99-point championship gap to teammate Max Verstappen and questions about his position at the sport’s most dominant team, with Ricciardo now receiving the nod from Red Bull management to attempt a career revival. But the Mexican said the Australian’s elevation onto the grid wasn’t prompting any additional introspection on his part.
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“I’ve been in F1 for 13 years, so I’m not a guy who thinks so much further ahead,” he said. “I’ve been with the engineers; I don’t even have the time to discuss what’s going on with Daniel. I think it’s a great opportunity for him, and that’s it.
“I’m focusing on Hungary and then Belgium and not really thinking about 2025. It’s nonsense to think that far away.”
Perez said he’d spent the time since the British Grand Prix working with the team to iron out his qualifying problems, with his sensitivity to changing track conditions a particular focus.
“The deficit that I’ve been experiencing with the car in the last few races, whenever there is a change in condition, it tends to get wider,” he said. “That’s been something that has caught us out.
“I think the last five races really have been some change in conditions in qualifying. That has really put us on the back foot for it.
“We’ve been doing some good work with the engineers over the week. We have some ideas for [Hungaroring], and hopefully we are able to just feel just in general have a better platform where we can be more comfortable, and if there is a change in conditions, then we don’t have such a difference.”
The six-time race winner defended his season record, noting that he’d done enough to stay ahead of the rest of the field on the title table despite the chasm to his teammate.
“We just have to look back at my season, and if I’m second in the world championship, it’s for a reason,” he said. “I’ve had a rough patch, it’s true, but I’ve also had a good start to the season.
“It’s just balancing out — looking at those [good] races, what worked, and looking at the bad races and what didn’t — and just make sure we make progress weekend after weekend. I’m confident. I’ve done my work, I’ve done my preparation, and I’m ready to deliver a strong weekend. That’s all I can do.
“It’s my hands. That’s why I’m focused. I’m a winner. I don’t like having bad weekends, it’s not what I’m here for. I’m here because I know that I can do it and I’ve done it before.
“You’ve seen it with other drivers, other teams — they’ve had difficult periods, but then they don’t have 20 replacements [talked about] after each session like they do with the Red Bull drivers.”