Sergio Perez has claimed that Red Bull’s meeting over Formula 1’s summer break was related to its slump in competitiveness and “had nothing to do with the drivers”.
Perez entered the summer break with speculation hanging over his place with the team amid a torrid run which had comprised a pitiful 28 points across eight rounds.
But while his position was evaluated during an annual sitdown between Red Bull boss Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko, Perez has been granted a reprieve.
Perez, who possesses a multi-term deal, had been adamant at the last race before the shutdown in Belgium that he would remain in Red Bull’s RB20 come Zandvoort.
The Mexican has again denied that his seat was ever under threat as he insisted that Horner and Marko’s discussion revolved around Red Bull’s on-track performance.
“It was mainly pure speculation,” Perez told media including Motorsport Week. “I think the meeting had nothing to do with the drivers, it was all about the performance.
“I think I already said everything I had to regarding speculation, I’m here fully committed to the team.
“I have got a contract for the next two years and I’m fully committed to Red Bull to turn things around and, yeah, I’ve said everything I had to.”
Perez’s struggles coincided with Red Bull’s advantage over the competition being eradicated as reigning champion Max Verstappen hasn’t won in the last four races.
According to Perez, the break came at an optimal time for Red Bull as it has since had the chance to understand that it has made mishaps with its car’s development.
“I basically went away and switched off,” Perez added regarding the summer break.
“But always when you are in the summer break, the back of the mind is always in contact with the engineers and what’s going on.
“And it was, I would say, a very positive break for Red Bull. We were able to find a lot of stuff. I think at least we know where we are with the car right now.
“You know, there’s been an upgrade or two that probably took us in the wrong path.
“I think just looking back at it, right now we know exactly how the car is working, which is a very good thing, because I think it was not so clear in the last few races.
“Whether we can fix it and get back to the level we had earlier, that’s another question. But I think in that regard it’s very possible.”
Horner’s speech to Red Bull members mentioned that he’s optimistic that Perez will be able to return to his previous level at tracks where he has experienced success.
But while he has agreed with that statement, Perez has underlined how that will be unattainable unless he can rediscover the confidence to push the RB20 to the limit.
“Yeah, I think there’s some good circuits where I’ve had good races, but we’ve already been to circuits where I’ve had good races,” he assessed.
“I think the most important is we get myself in the window where I can extract the potential of the car, because definitely, I mean, it’s still a Red Bull and it’s a bloody fast car.
“But it’s just been tricky lately to extract the maximum. We’ve been quite hard on the tyres. So yeah, I think there’s a lot of things to improve in the next races.”
