Sergio Perez has admitted that an “increase in temperature” upsetting the balance of his Red Bull Formula 1 car prevented him from challenging for the win in Japan.
Perez qualfiied within seven-hundredths of polesitter Max Verstappen at Suzuka to complete a Red Bull front lockout and his first since Miami almost 12 months ago.
However, the Mexican was unable to challenge his team-mate in the race as Verstappen scampered 12.8 seconds clear to claim his third win from four races in 2024.
Perez’s prospects were hindered when he dropped behind Lando Norris in the second stint and then had to overtake the McLaren and the one-stopping Charles Leclerc.
But Perez revealed that he had been on the backfoot prior to that as the increase in track temperature up to 40 degrees for the race impacted the handling on his RB20..
“Yeah, it started really well yesterday. And today we had a good start,” Perez reviewed. “Unfortunately, I think we got caught out with the increase of temperature.
“I think with the balance, we just couldn’t get on top of that first stint, which meant that the degradation was a little bit higher.
“With Lando going on having two sets of Hards, it just compromised a little bit our race more than I wanted to. But I think already on the second stint, things were a lot back under control.
“We were able to get a better read to the balance. And I think by the time we got to the third stint, things were a lot better.”
Perez had maintained second place in the nascent stages and was situated one second behind Verstappen when he encountered a wide moment at the second Degner.
“It was quite a tricky corner. A lot of people went out there today,” he explained.
“I just went in over the kerb and I was just hoping to not pick up a damage because it’s so easy with these floors to go off and have a damage. As far as I know, we don’t have any.
“I just understeered wide and went over the kerb. Once you are at the top of the kerb, it’s game over. You just have to let the car roll, go over it, because it’s better to be over than on top of it.
“I obviously picked up a lot of dirt on my tyres, which took a lap or two to really clean up. I lost a couple of seconds with that.”
Perez encountered the Mercedes cars following his opening pit stop and pulled bold moves up the inside of the high-speed left-handed 130R corner on both drivers.
“Yeah, it just turned out to happen both at the same time,” he explained. “Spending time around one of the slowest cars, given the degradation they were having, it was quite penalising.
“So I was just going for it. And it happened at the 130R both times.”
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner conceding that he watched those moments through gritted teeth, but Perez denied that he was anxious it could end in contact.
“No, it’s good fun,” Perez responded when asked whether both moves had provided a nerve-wracking experience. “It’s good fun to go around there with two cars.”
Red Bull has consolidated its lead in both championships with a third 1-2 finish in four rounds to provide the ideal response to a disappointing weekend in Australia.
Regarding its chances at the next round, Perez notes the shared characteristics between Suzuka and the Shanghai International Circuit stands Red Bull in good stead.
“It’s a bit of a similar track, I’d say, with a lot of high-speed, medium-speed content,” Perez said regarding China’s return to the F1 calendar for the first time since 2019.
“I think if we are able to be fast around this place, we can be fast in many other races. So it should be a good track for us as well.”
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