Sergio Perez: Max now has the same problems I've had all season"

The Red Bull team, which was dominating at the beginning of the season, seems to be losing pace now, as shown by its worrying performance this weekend in Monza. Despite an alternative strategy with hard tires at the start, the two drivers were never in contention for the win, finishing in sixth and eighth places, more than 30 seconds behind the winner. This underperformance reduces the gap with McLaren to just 8 points in the constructors' standings.

Persistent issues with balance and adjustments

The results are worrying the Austrian team, which is struggling to properly adjust the cars since the introduction of upgrades and is facing numerous difficulties. At the arrival of the Grand Prix, the three-time world champion once again complained about the lack of balance of his car throughout the weekend, a problem that did not exist at the beginning of the season for the Dutchman. For his teammate, the issues encountered by Verstappen are the same as those he had earlier in the season, compromising his results to a large extent since the Mexican has not been able to finish in the top 5 since the Miami Grand Prix, the sixth race of the championship.

« I really feel like I'm in the same boat as in the last 10 races," he told the official F1 channel. « But now, all of a sudden, Max starts having similar problems. So, there's a bit of confusion about that. But it's clear in the data where the issue lies. » For the Mexican, the major problem encountered by the Austrian team for several weekends is the lack of balance of the car, preventing it from performing well and being enjoyable to drive for the drivers. However, it's a concern that seems difficult to address for Red Bull, who have just concluded a sixth consecutive weekend without any victory.

A lack of correlation between the data and the track

Upon arriving at the Monza circuit, the Mexican also emphasized the lack of correlation between the data obtained in the wind tunnel and the performances on the track, making it difficult to identify the causes of Red Bull's difficulties. Despite their efforts, the engineers struggle to solve these problems, seriously jeopardizing the team's chances of retaining its titles.

« I think that the issue of correlation has been around for some time and is linked to many things. I think that after Miami, we were a bit uncertain and working with a car whose functioning we didn't understand. And I think that once you understand the issue, you can organize yourself around it. Now, the most important thing is to be able to solve the problem. » Indeed, there is urgency on the Austrian side, with McLaren getting closer to them as the races go by and a car that must improve significantly before the end of the season, to avoid seeing both titles slip away, a trend that seems increasingly likely considering the latest results of the Milton Keynes team, like the one in Italy.

The Mexican, eighth at the finish, did not hide his disappointment, his car suffering from too much tire degradation, which compromised his strategy. « I'm quite disappointed. I expected it to be difficult, but not to this extent. We were basically slow and had strong degradation, especially on the medium tire compound. » The former McLaren driver still managed to bring four points for the team and defended aggressively for several laps with George Russell, allowing Verstappen to keep the Briton behind him in the final laps.

« I compromised my race a little, I think, to keep George behind. It worked well for us as we were able to keep George behind for a while. In the end, he really came very close to Max, so I think it made a difference for the team in terms of the points we secured today. » A small consolation for a team that has only one podium in the last four races and now only has 8 small units ahead of its rival McLaren.