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Red Bull chief admits: 'Perez has more trouble with that than Verstappen'
- Nicole Mulder
It has been seen in the past, and it occurred again after the first five Formula 1 races of 2024: a hard-to-drive Red Bull Racing car. Since then, Max Verstappen has had to struggle to keep up with the top, while Sergio Perez has fallen way back. Technical director Pierre Waché admits Perez is struggling in that area and explains how the team is trying to help him.
Perez started the season strongly by finishing on the podium in four of the first five Grands Prix. After the China GP, Red Bull struggled and from the F1 race in Imola onwards Perez's results collapsed, dropping from second to seventh in the drivers' championship.
Red Bull technical director on difference between Perez and Verstappen
Perez's disappointing results have partly to do with stronger competition but also with a more difficult-to-drive RB20. Waché admits Perez is struggling more than Verstappen in that area. "It can be linked to that, yes. It can be part of the story, that's correct," he says in a conversation with Motorsport.com.
To help Perez - and also Verstappen, who is also not happy with the car at the moment - Red Bull is trying to make the car easier to drive. However, according to Waché, the team cannot pinpoint exactly what Perez is struggling with so much. The fact that the simulations by no means always exactly match reality does not help. Moreover, the technical director argues that interaction with the tyres is difficult to simulate.
Waché: Red Bull RB20 not geared towards Verstappen's driving style
A difficult issue for Red Bull is that on the one hand, the team wants to have a car that is as fast as possible, but on the other hand, the drivers have to be able to handle it in terms of balance. "If we make the car faster in a way that Checo can use it well, it actually means that both drivers can get the most out of it. Even if the preferences are slightly different, what they need from the car does remain basically the same," Waché explained.
Red Bull's technical director denies that the car is being developed for a specific driving style. That is what the tuning is for, he stresses. Sometimes the car is made faster, but the driver does not feel comfortable in it. So it is all about finding the right balance between developing a fast car that is also easy for the drivers to drive.
This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton