If there was one driver who needed to put the last few races behind him in Spain and have a really strong weekend it was Sergio Perez.
Red Bull’s number two driver has been on a worrying run of form ever since he signed a contract extension to take him to at least the end of the 2025 season.
Speaking after the race to Sky Sports F1, American racing driver Danica Patrick had her say on Sergio Perez’s latest performance.
Unfortunately for the Mexican driver, it was another disappointing outing, bringing home another four points for the team while Max Verstappen produced yet another astonishing display to take his seventh win of the season.
The disparity between the two drivers is one of the greatest on the grid now which may be starting to concern those at the top of the Red Bull hierarchy.
However, Christian Horner suggested in an interview with Sky Sports after the race that Perez could take ‘quite a bit of confidence’ from his performance while suggesting an 8 place finish was the best he could do from his starting position.
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Danica Patrick tells Sergio Perez what he must do to improve after the Spanish Grand Prix
Sergio Perez started the Spanish Grand Prix on the back foot given the way his race ended in Canada the weekend before.
He spun during difficult conditions in Montreal, damaging his rear wing and picking up a three-place grid penalty for driving back to the pit lane with an unsafe car.
It meant that the Mexican had to maximise his performance in qualifying on Saturday.
However, the grid has converged this year meaning that Verstappen has to extract every ounce of pace from his Red Bull to match the likes of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
That puts further pressure on Perez who has had his qualifying pace questioned in the past and he could only set the eighth-fastest time in Q3.
It meant he moved down to 11 on the grid and then he was leapfrogged by Nico Hulkenberg who frustrated him throughout the first stint of the race.
In the end, Perez was put onto a three-stop strategy that didn’t quite work out but did allow him to pass Pierre Gasly right at the end of the race.
Patrick has admitted that Perez needs to get up to speed faster in a race weekend in order to close the gap to his teammate.
Damon Hill was scathing about his performance which is no real surprise given how far away from Verstappen he was once again.
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Sergio Perez must get up to speed quicker on race weekends
Patrick: “I think he needs to show pace from the very beginning of a weekend in a really solid position.
“That way he has more confidence going into qualifying, [he can] put himself in a better position there.
“That’s really where he can make the most amount of progress and just be smart in the races and he still has an incredibly good car and just to make the most of that and not make mistakes is going to be his best foot forward.”
Although the final results of practice sessions can’t be taken too seriously given setting the fastest time possible isn’t always the aim, it’s interesting to see how Perez fared in Spain.
He was 5 in FP1, 13 in FP2 and 7 in FP3, finishing behind his teammate on every occasion.
Perez may have to change his approach to race weekends to start taking the pressure away from himself.
Ultimately, just like it was last season, his performances in qualifying simply aren’t up to scratch yet.
The post ‘Just be smart’: Danica Patrick tells Sergio Perez what he must improve after disappointing Spanish GP weekend appeared first on F1 Oversteer.