The Mexican signed a two-year contract renewal with Red Bull ahead of the Monaco GP weekend and will remain team-mates with Max Verstappen until at least the end of 2024.
Riders have always talked about how negative it is to feel that you risk your future in every race by not having a contract for next year, and Sergio Pérez admitted that the renewal motivates him for the remainder of the course.
Asked by Motorsport.com about the benefits of getting the renewal early, Perez said: “I certainly feel as a driver you want certainty. And you want to take the stress off of yourself. So the sooner the better.”
“It takes a lot of energy and a lot of focus to be 100 per cent over the weekend, so you don’t need to be thinking about that. So it was good that we agreed so early on the new contract.”
Pérez believes that the confidence he has in the Red Bull car, and the performance of the car, gives him a “good chance” to go for the championship title this season.
He believes that the step forward he has taken this year compared to Verstappen has come from the hand of the new regulation that offers a reset in terms of the inherent characteristics of the car.
“I think last year we obviously came [to Red Bull] with a set of rules that had been around for quite some time,” he explained. “So the people who had been on the teams the longest had a good advantage in that regard.”
“So being new to that [2021] car, to that single-seater philosophy, it was very difficult for me to adapt, and always get the most out of it. It required a very unique driving style that I had a hard time adapting to.
“The end of the season was good, but [adapting] it took me too long throughout the championship.”
“I think that starting from scratch is a good opportunity for everyone. And above all, considering that it is my second year with Red Bull, I think that meeting my engineers and meeting the people around me is something that makes it much better. That’s a big step.”
“With the car I feel quite comfortable. And I am able to get the most out of it,” he concluded.
