Sergio Perez He has the most uncomfortable bar in current F1 on the other side of the garage, Max Verstappen, but in 2023 he sets the same goal: “Improve what I did last year. We have to keep progressing and learning. What we lacked last year, to make sure that we are more complete with my group of engineers.
The 31-year-old Mexican spoke to the media after the presentation of the RB19, a car with which he hopes to fight for victories again (he won two races in 2022 and was 3rd in the World Cup) and fight for the title: “I have to win everyone to do that. It is a matter of consistency, of managing bad times. To be at your best level every weekend”. Among the weaknesses of the past course, he maintains that a wrong direction in the setup it made him take a step back after the first third of the campaign: “We learn from the mistakes we made, when it came to taking directions in the ‘set-up’. We have learned what we were doing wrong with the car and now we are going in the right direction”.
He admits that spending time in Mexico has helped him to disconnect in winter, because the tight schedule barely allows it in the middle of the season: “It is important for me to have a rest time, to recharge the batteries that I need, and I think I have done that. I was in Mexico and now I’m back in training to push and do my best”.
Who will be the rivals? “We saw Mercedes at the end of last year and they will be very strong. Ferrari will also press, the competition will be at a high level, and I also hope that a team from the middle zone will take a step forward. It will be very competitive this year,” he says. Czech before his 13th season in F1, and with four victories to his credit. Christian Horner, Head of the team, he also increases the demand on his second driver: “He knows everyone in the team, we want to reinforce the year he had in 2022. The pressure never goes down, it always goes up, but now we know each other better”.
Ricciardo, watchman in the garage
Inside the box wait Daniel Ricciardo (33 years old) as the third driver, although with a level to get into the car at any time (he has won eight grand prix). The Australian, who aspires to return to the grid full-time in 2024, will try to learn from experience: “Each driver has their own talent, their own style, you always learn something from their way of communicating, from their ‘feedback’ or from their relationship with engineers. Each one has his own technique to extract the most from the team. ‘Checo’ has a lot of experience, he debuted a few months before me, I’m looking forward to seeing his dynamic with Max as well and seeing how they work together. These have been good years for the team, so seeing it from the inside is a privilege”.