F1: Perez confirms 'bizarre' theory about form collapse

(GMM) Sergio Perez has confirmed that his performance began to slide in 2023 because he cannot drive a loose & pointy car like teammate Verstappen.

Verstappen, who has won a record-equalling nine races on the trot in recent months, admitted this week that it initially took him “a few races” to “fine-tune” the single seater.

Sergio Perez of Mexico and Max Verstappen of the Netherlands — Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talk during day one of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 23, 2023 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

“When I understood how to work with the car, it became really, really good to drive,” said the Dutchman.

Verstappen’s Tire Genius

-Puts the tires in working window faster and better
-If one of the tires is 10 degrees hotter then he brings it back to normal within 2 laps without losing any lap time
-Found a really good way to deal with the tires

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the Paddock prior to practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 17, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool — Max Verstappen can drive a car setup in a way that no other driver can handle it, but it is the fastest way to drive, hence his genius and his dominance. Jacques Villeneuve on the Max Verstappen and RB19 combination: “He’s managed to do it better than anybody else. He’s managed to work with his engineer and his team to turn the car into a second skin.” (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Perez Slumps

Whilst Verstappen got up to speed, Mexican Perez got his hopes up about a genuine title challenge in 2023, including wins at Jeddah and Baku.

Then he slumped.

“Odd, bizarre,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said at Zandvoort last weekend.

“Checo’s not an idiot. We have seen in all these years he is a grand prix winner, multiple grand prix winner, and he was at Racing Point, so I cannot comprehend.

“We’ve seen that Max has destroyed every single teammate that was with him, so whether it’s his ability to create a car around himself that is just very tricky to control but fast if you can, and that creates those gaps.”

Toto Wolff - we have seen Max destroy all his teammates - Jiri Krenek Photo for Mercedes F1 — Toto Wolff – we have seen Max destroy all his teammates – Jiri Krenek Photo for Mercedes F1

Perez, 33, has now confirmed that just as Verstappen began his nine-race winning streak after Baku, his driving has not been “coming naturally” anymore.

“In the last races I was a little behind and always consciously thinking about how I should drive the car,” he said.

“Sometimes, with the way the car has been developed, it doesn’t really suit me. I have to work harder to get there.”

But in F1, once a driver begins to lose confidence, mistakes can start piling up in addition to a struggle for basic performance – and the phenomenon can then snowball.

“In Formula 1, if you are not completely confident with the car at 250kph in a corner, then you start to doubt a little more, and that is what happened in those moments,” Perez admitted.

“It would be easy to sit down and say ‘This is too hard for me’. But in the end you just have to keep going. And like I said, I’m looking forward to continuing this momentum with the team because we have a great car.”