The pressure has been increasing on Sergio Perez after his massive underperformance in comparison to his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. Since the Mexican finds himself a whopping 125 points behind the Dutchman, he is now clocking in extra hours at the team’s headquarters to rediscover his form, as per a report put out by racingnews365.com. On the other hand, Verstappen is enjoying his summer break with his girlfriend, Kelly Piquet.
The couple went to Sardinia and enjoyed their time with a few friends. The 25-year-old also uploaded a couple of images of his vacation with Piquet on his Instagram handle.
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While Perez, too, enjoyed his summer break, he is believed to have cut it short. The 33-year-old returned from Mexico to train at the Red Bull factory as soon as it opened.
Sergio Perez is putting the hard yards in to rediscover his form
In a recent interview with racingnews365.com, Sergio Perez outlined his goals for the rest of the season. During the same interview, he also explained how he hopes to rediscover his form this weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix after training hard at the Red Bull factory.
🚨 Checo has been working overtime at the Red Bull factory
He has taken the minimum amount of vacation days and was at the factory as soon as it opened on Monday
He has already done some preparation for the Dutch Grand Prix 💪
[@Racingnews365] #F1 pic.twitter.com/svWentO7Cb
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) August 23, 2023
“I’ve been in the Factory with my engineers this week. It’s always good to catch up after the break and we’ve done some very good preparation for the weekend and we’re fully ready for it. I want to pick up where I left off in Spa and be consistently on the podium, and challenging for the remainder of the season,” he explained.
After stating the same, Perez concluded his remarks by explaining that he hopes to put in a strong performance at the next race in Zandvoort. The former Racing Point driver predicted the race weekend to be “tricky,” but he still hopes to deliver the best performance.
F1 expert fears Perez may lose his seat if he fails to deliver
F1 expert Natalie Pinkham believes that the minimum that Red Bull will expect of Sergio Perez is to finish second in the championship, behind Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. In case the Mexican fails to do so, the 45-year-old fears that he may lose his seat.
“If Perez doesn’t finish runner-up, he should lose his seat,” she explained while speaking on the most recent episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast. When asked who she believes will finish second in the championship, she interestingly replied, “It’s controversial but I’m going to say Lewis Hamilton will finish runner-up“.
As things stand, Perez is currently second in the championship with 189 points. He has a 40-point lead over third-placed Fernando Alonso, who has been losing ground due to Aston Martin’s recent struggles. Meanwhile, when it comes to fourth-place Lewis Hamilton, Perez has a 41-point lead over him.
