“It’s like I’ve changed category to be very honest”– Sergio Perez talks about the drastic changes he had to adopt after moving to Red Bull.
Last year, when Sergio Perez had his best season with Racing Point, he eyed to get a seat in Red Bull or leave F1; eventually, his wish came true, and he has been doing well in the setup.
But the Mexican had his own share of difficulties settling down with Red Bull, as it apparently had a unique setup, which Perez never dealt with before in F1.
“The way you extract the lap time in this car, the way you are fighting when you are in dirty air, compared to what I was used to do, and how you drive the races, is very different,” Perez tells Motorsport.com.
“Plus, it’s how you look after the tyres. Every car has different requirements of rim heating, and rim cooling, with very specific details as everything is linked to the tyres.”
“So it’s just a different world, to be honest. It’s like I’ve changed category to be very honest. It’s just a different category.”
I’m coming from a very different philosophy.
Perez rightfully points out that he was engaged with the midtable teams for a long time, and now suddenly he is in a team fighting for the championship, which has drastically brought a shift in philosophy he has to follow, and he is learning every day.
“It’s a massive opportunity, but yeah I also am aware that I have changed a lot the philosophy,” he explains. “I went from one team to a very different team in terms of how the car achieved the lap time, and it’s been harder than expected, changing teams, you know, especially coming to a team that is already fighting for the championship.”
“It’s great to be in a team that is fighting for the championship but, at the same time, it’s difficult because you don’t have that adaptation that when you are fighting for the championship you’re fully engaged with the car. I didn’t have a chance to do that.”
“I’m just learning a lot, you know, from the car, and from the team. I came to a very different team philosophy, engine and car, so I’m just getting on with it and, with time and just improving, things are getting better.”
“But it is not an easy process and still it’s an ongoing process. Coming into a new structure, a structure like Red Bull, it’s very big, and it’s not easy to find your feet. But it’s getting there.”
