Sergio Pérez used an alternative floor specification on his RB18 from the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa , which he also kept at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort .
The design worn by the Mexican driver is understood to be a new direction that Red Bull originally tested with Verstappen in Britain and Austria, which would feature a Ferrari-like design solution, with a cutout on the edge and a section on form of protruding tongue.
Pérez himself spoke about it in the run-up to the Zandvoort weekend and confirmed that he was running a different specification of flooring and that he will keep it in the next Grands Prix.
“We have different floors for now. We are going to have to continue with this floor in the next events. And yes, we will try to have a better reading,” he said last Thursday.
However, Horner gave a different version of the reason behind the gap between the two cars after the Dutch GP, where Max Verstappen took pole position and victory, with Checo finishing fifth.
“We are talking about minuscule differences,” said the Red Bull director when asked about the difference between the floors of his two drivers.
“It’s been driven by the availability of spare parts. I think the difference translates to less than a tenth, or at most a tenth of a second,” he explained.
Regarding the Mexican driver’s performance at Zandvoort, who was well behind Verstappen, Horner said: “Checo had a tough race, and unfortunately they overtook him on the restart, and I think probably in hindsight he preferred the medium tyres. I think with a complete look, the soft would probably have been a better tire to attack.”
“Anyway, I think he scored decent points,” concluded the Austrian team manager.
After Sunday’s race in the Netherlands, Pérez is level on points with Charles Leclerc with 201 units each in second place in the drivers’ championship, although the Monegasque is in second place having won more victories than the Red Bull driver.
Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Erik Junius
