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Perez won't let future talk be a distraction
Sergio Perez says he can’t allow speculation surrounding his future become a distraction for him ahead of the final two races before the summer break.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has openly stated that Perez is under pressure, having scored just 15 points across the past six race weekends and slipped to sixth in the drivers’ championship. The form has led to an understanding that the situation around Perez will be analyzed during the August shutdown if there is not an upturn in performances, but the 34-year-old says his focus needs to be on the upcoming rounds.
“I know where I am, in terms of contract and that sort of thing,” Perez said. “That I cannot let be a distraction because I need to focus on the next two weekends, which are the priority and work together with the team to get out of this difficult period.
“It’s a good time to have a bit of a break and get back to form hopefully for Hungary and Belgium, two very important races.”
Perez stepped aside for Isack Hadjar in FP1 at Silverstone and then was eliminated in Q1 after spinning off track in changeable conditions. After a race where an early gamble for wet weather tires backfired, the Mexican says it’s the early practice work that will be crucial to any turnaround.
“I think, looking back at it, we had one of the best Fridays in a while,” he said. “So I think there is some light out of the tunnel. At the same time, it is a very disappointing race, but I am also aware how much we can consider this race. Other than that, just making sure we are in a ballpark with the balance, try to make preparations we need for Friday and then we will be a lot better.”
Where there is further uncertainty surrounding Perez is in the lack of a standout candidate to replace him should Red Bull make that choice, with Horner still relatively reserved about Yuki Tsunoda’s potential, despite him getting the better of Daniel Ricciardo so far this season.
“Yuki is a Red Bull Racing driver, he’s on a Red Bull Racing contract, and we re-signed him because he's been performing well,” Horner said. “So we’re very aware of his performances.
“I think Yuki’s doing a good job. He scored another point [at Silverstone], he’s stringing weekends together, he’s doing a good job. I think he’s benefitted from having Daniel alongside him, I think he’ll openly admit he’s learned from Daniel in terms of having an experienced driver and how they interact with the team and the engineers. And Yuki’s not a rookie anymore, he’s got quite a lot of experience now under his belt and you can see he’s putting that to good use.
“You never know, maybe he’ll get a test one day … You can never rule anything out. Yuki, we have options for multiple years on him because we believe that he’s a talent.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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