Oscar Piastri has admitted that Sergio Perez’s ongoing struggles in the 2024 Formula 1 season are bolstering McLaren’s strive to reel in Red Bull in the championship.
McLaren has emerged as Red Bull’s closest challenger since introducing upgrades in Miami that have inspired the side to pick up six consecutive podiums and a win.
But while Max Verstappen has continued to be present at the sharp end to prevent McLaren from adding to its Miami triumph, Perez has endured another slip in form.
The Mexican rued opening-lap damage in Austria last weekend seeing him finish behind Verstappen, who pitted late on due to contact from a clash with Lando Norris.
Having brought his wounded car home in seventh behind Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg at the Red Bull Ring, Perez has contributed 15 points to Red Bull’s total in five rounds.
With McLaren trailing a considerable 87 points behind Red Bull in third spot in the championship, Piastri has proclaimed that Perez’s woes are keeping its hopes alive.
When about the advantage that’s emanated from Perez not being a consistent factor at the top, Piastri said: “It certainly helps our Constructors’ Championship a bit.
“I mean it has just been Max really, which whenever you have two cars up the front versus one, it opens up some opportunities and is always good for point scoring.
“So yeah, I think it’s just always a good thing.”
McLaren’s extensive upgrade package in Miami has eradicated the team’s previous weakness in slow-speed corners and made the MCL38 a challenger on all circuits.
“I think it [the car] should perform everywhere,” Piastri assessed. “I think there will be relative weaknesses and strengths compared to other teams.
“Ferrari were very strong in Monaco, Red Bull I would say quite strong in Austria, especially in the high-speed. So there’s going to be chops and changes between everybody.
“Mercedes are in the fight now as well, with Ferrari too. So I think we should be confident that we’ll be competitive everywhere.
“We’ve had so many different types of track, different conditions, different surfaces and we’ve been one of the quickest cars at basically everywhere we’ve gone.
“So I think with the amount of data and evidence we’ve had already, I’m confident we’ll be good everywhere.”
Piastri rued a track limits violation dropping him from third on the grid in Austria to seventh and costing him a win when his team-mate and Max Verstappen clashed.
But while he denied the squandered opening gave him added desire this weekend, the Australian is determined to be in the fight to land his maiden win at Silverstone.
“I think I’m definitely in the hunt for the win. We’ve had a really competitive car for the last three months. There’s been a lot of near misses and opportunities.
“I don’t think there’s been a clear-cut opportunity where we could have easily won. But we’ve been in the fight for a long time now.
“I don’t think that really changes that mindset now.
“I think we’ve given ourselves enough evidence on enough different tracks to be able to say that we’re back and able to fight for wins. So for myself, I want to be up in the fight for that.”
However, Piastri has conceded that the strength in the high-speed corners which saw Verstappen storm to pole position at the Red Bull Ring makes him the favourite.
“I think Red Bull will be strong,” he acknowledged. “They were very quick in the high-speed corners in Barcelona, very quick in the high-speed in Austria.
“And I mean basically this whole track is high-speed corners. So I think they’ll be very tough to beat.
“I think it’s been a strength of ours in the past as well and there is some low-speed corners which we’ve certainly made a strength in the last few races.
“So I think it will be a good fight, I think, towards the front. But given how quick they were in the high speed last week compared to everyone, not just us, I think they’ll be very tough.”
