Sergio Perez has admitted that he has been “grateful” to endure a “tough” 2023 Formula 1 season and hopes that his learnings can result in an improved run next season.
Perez closed to within one point of team-mate Max Verstappen in the standings after winning two of the first four races, but he failed to take a victory beyond that point.
Meanwhile, Verstappen proceeded to prevail in 17 of the remaining 18 rounds to beat Perez by a sizeable 290 points, the largest-ever winning margin in the championship.
The Mexican’s troubles originated from struggling in qualifying, which saw him absent from the pole position shootout on nine occasions throughout the campaign.
Having conceded the balance of this year’s car drifted away from him, Perez hopes Red Bull can sustain its current dominance with a package more catered to his driving style.
“It’s been dominant for Red Bull, yes, but it was quite tough for me,” he reflected.
“So, I’m sure we’re gonna have a great car again next year and hopefully, a little bit nicer balance on my side and hopefully we can keep this domination going as well.”
Perez was speaking after participating in the one-day post-season test for Red Bull, marking his last appearance in the Austrian outfit’s record-breaking RB19 challenger.
The 33-year-old, who completed 117 laps of the Yas Marina Circuit, admits that the test “was a very positive day” and has placed him in good stead heading into the 2024 season.
“Always these days as a driver it’s always a pain in the ass to end up doing it. But it is so much learning, you know, so productive as well,” he commented.
“I think it’s been another productive day and I think especially coming out of a race, you know, everything is really fresh and the circuit, it was very sensitive, especially in the afternoon.
“So, yeah, plenty of productive testing and good information for next year and all in all, it’s a good way to finish the year.”
Asked how vital it was to get a head start on next year’s preparation, Perez answered: “It’s very important, you know, to be able to have these sort of days together with the team, because we take some work to home that we are able to work on and be productive.”
After a torrid run of only accruing five points in three race weekends between Singapore and Qatar, Perez credited his return to form to a three-day run in Red Bull’s simulator.
Perez returned to the podium for the first time since September in Las Vegas and would have ended the year with a top-three finish in Abu Dhabi without a time penalty.
The six-time race winner is convinced the season would “have been a lot different” if he had got a handle on the intricacies of Red Bull’s car philosophy earlier in the campaign.
“Yeah, obviously these days, you don’t have any, testing and even in the testing, you are so restrictive with the things you can play on and with the time and with the tyres,” he said.
“But I think overall I’m grateful for the difficult season I had because it teach me a lot about the car, about the philosophy in Red Bull, understanding a lot more the concept of the car. And I really hope that this will pay off next year.”
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