Sergio Perez says he and Red Bull need to return to “scoring big points” in the wake of a difficult run of events in Formula 1.
Perez has scored only 16 points across the last six events amid a spate of incidents and setbacks.
Perez spun off in Sprint in Britain, was involved in the first-lap chaos in Hungary, and then crashed en route to the grid in Belgium.
A potential podium in Italy was lost amid a track limits violation while in Russia he was poised for third place until a late rain shower upset the running order.
The results have left Perez fifth in the standings, losing ground on Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz only 7.5 points behind the Red Bull driver.
“I am very confident in this car, I think lately we have been showing good signs of pace,” said Perez.
“But I am conscious we must put it together to get the car where it deserves on the grid and then back into scoring those big points, to get us where we want to be in the championship, come the end of the season.”
Perez performed strongly last year at Istanbul Park, the venue for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix, by qualifying third and racing to second place.
“We did a lot of work after Russia to analyse what went wrong and what went right and where we can look to improve,” he said.
“I have spent some more time on the sim ahead of Turkey too, so we have done some pretty intense homework for this weekend.
“I am looking forward to the last seven races now and I am sure our luck will turn, we are performing well on track but now we must show that with our results on a Sunday, I want to be back on the podium this weekend.”
