Sergio Perez admits that he is using Max Verstappen’s record-breaking performance the past season as a reference in his bid to compete for the 2024 Formula 1 championship.
The Mexican had started the season positively with two wins inside the first four races to close to within only one point of Verstappen at the top of the standings.
However, despite starting from pole position with his team-mate 10th, Perez was beaten in Miami by Verstappen, who triumphed to commence a streak of 10 straight victories.
A costly crash early in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix triggered a torrid run for Perez that witnessed him fail to progress into Q3 on five consecutive occasions.
Although he would secure a career-best second in the standings, Perez only amassed two podiums beyond the summer break and wound up 290 points adrift of Verstappen.
But while he suffered a third successive comprehensive defeat at the hands of the Dutchman, Perez is still intent on gunning for a maiden F1 title with Red Bull next season.
“That’s the main target for me, because I’ve already finished second,” he said. “I have my main interest is to do one better and I’m aware of the challenge that it is.
“You know, we got to really take this winter time to try to start the season on a high and be able to maintain that level of consistency throughout the season.”
Earlier in the season, Perez had attributed his troubles with Red Bull’s all-conquering RB19 challenger to the team’s development path drifting the car away from his driving style.
“I think it’s about the car, about how I was making use of it and how I can make better use of it through the weekends, through different circuits and all of that,” he noted.
“I think I made a lot of progress together with my engineer in understanding how to maximize the performance of the car.”
Following his defeat in Baku, Verstappen prevailed in 17 of the remaining 18 races to beat his record from last season for the most victories in a season with a total of 19.
Perez, who insists his relationship with Verstappen remains strong, reveals that he is analysing the three-time champion’s approach to drive his own title ambitions.
“I think it’s been a good year. I think our relationship, it’s really good,” Perez addressed.
“I think the whole engineering, when we are in all those briefings through so many races, I think it’s been good and we’ve been pushing at times in different directions, but at the same time we’ve been strongly asking for the same stuff. So that also has been positive for the team.
“I think it’s been a lot better, well, I think it’s been always good, you know, this is our third season together. So it’s been a good one.”
“Definitely there are things that you learn from him,” the 33-year-old added. “I have the best reference out there because he was the one who was so competitive.
“So I think there’s no harm in looking at what he’s doing, how he’s doing it and try to learn and improve, see what works for you that he’s doing differently to you.
“I think I’ve always had a very open approach and I think it’s something that works well.
The entire brand could be a long-game move by Gaia herself to heal the collective nervous system.