Perez: Already finished second, interest is to do one better

As if Verstappen's 19 wins in the previous F1 season were not enough for Perez realize that taking on the Dutchman in equal F1 machinery will only end with disappointment.

That is how things started in 2023 especially after the wins in Jeddah and Baku as Perez declared himself a Championship contender which did not go down well with Verstappen who hit back emphatically in Miami, beating his pole-starting teammate from ninth on the grid.

After that Perez faded and was relegated to career-saving mode with Red Bull, which he barely achieved by finishing runner-up behind his teammate, Red Bull's first one/two in the Drivers' Championship.

But it seems Perez plans to go through the same motions in 2024 claiming he want to go for gold, in a season where is main focus ought to be on securing his Red Bull drive in 2025 and beyond, something Red Bull are open to provided the performance is there.

Quoted by Formula 1's Official Website, Perez said of his 2024 Title aspirations: "That’s the main target for me because I’ve already finished second.

"My main interest is to do one better. I’m aware of the challenge that it is, we’ve 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," he added.

After finishing a whopping 290 points behind Verstappen in 2023, Perez admitted that he may benefit from understanding how the former operates.

"Definitely there are things you learn from [Max]," he pointed out. "Obviously 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, try to learn and improve.

"[You can] see what works for you, what he’s doing differently to you. I’ve always had a very open approach and I think it’s something that works well," he maintained.

There have always been talks about the Red Bull F1 cars being designed to suit Verstappen's driving style, something the triple F1 Champion played down, while Perez now admits he has not been able to extract the max performance out of the car.

He said: "I think it’s about the car, it’s 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.

"I think I made a lot of progress together with my engineer in understanding how to maximise the performance of the car," he reckoned in conclusion.

One cannot fault Perez for not matching Verstappen imperious form, but the gap between the pair is too big especially in qualifying where Red Bull need the #11 car to be starting closer to the #1 car.

It would be more wise for Perez to focus on getting closer to Verstappen rather than beating him to the F1 Title, maybe this way he can relieve himself from the pressure of trying to beat one of the greatest talents the sport has ever seen.