Translation;
Sergio Perez discusses the main differences between his wishes of the RB16B and those of Max Verstappen in conversation with Motorsport.com Netherlands. The Mexican is now following his own path in finding the right set-up, although the limited practice time still makes adjusting more difficult than thought.
Perez finally got his chance at a top team again this season after years of loyal service with Force India and Racing Point. The Mexican had high expectations beforehand, but has to acknowledge that the first few months in Milton Keynes have been bumpy. "This switch has required more adjustment than previously thought and therefore the process is also taking longer than expected," the current number five in the world championship let us know. "I have been able to show my speed at times, but the consistency is still lacking."
Perez has been able to visit the honorary podium twice in his first months at Red Bull Racing, with victory in Azerbaijan the undisputed highlight. On the other hand, the two-time GP winner is still a little short in qualifying and struggled in Austria, among other places. "But that's also because basically everything is different in this team. Not only the people and the car, but of course also the engine. I can't go into too much detail, but that too is very different from what I'm used to and so again requires adjustment of my driving style."
Because Perez had his hands more than full with those adjustments, he still largely followed Verstappen in terms of setup in the first few months. "But little by little I am now following my own path more and more. I test different things and try to make it a success. Because we have so little driving time, it's just hard to try out different directions during the same race weekend and that's of course what you want. Anyway, the whole process has proven to be a lot trickier because we have very little time left in the car this year." Indeed, testing with the 2021 car is out of the question with the exception of two filming days and Friday practice sessions have each been shortened by half an hour this year.
Besides fine-tuning with the set-up, Perez appears to need slightly different things from the car to go fast than his teammate anyway. It's no secret that Verstappen is pretty out of sorts with a fickle rear end - see also the big difference with Alexander Albon last year - and the comparison with Perez shows that. Asked if there are different wishes compared to Verstappen, Perez says: "Yes, there are some differences. For example, I like to have a more stable rear compared to Max, especially in medium-speed and high-speed corners. That gives me a bit more feeling in the car anyway and I like that better. It's also an aspect we're still working hard on behind the scenes at the moment." In that regard, it is another stroke of luck for Perez that the rear of the RB16B is already a lot more stable than that of its predecessors, the cars that Albon and Pierre Gasly struggled with quite a bit as Verstappen's teammates in 2019 and 2020.
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