Sergio Perez will continue to use an older specification version of Red Bull’s car than his team mate at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Red Bull introduced a significant upgrade for its RB20 at the Hungaroring last week. Perez did not receive the full upgrade, including the reshaped engine cover lacking the distinctive ‘cannon’ shape. However the team indicated it would only use some parts of its new design at high-downforce circuits, unlike Spa-Francorchamps, where it is racing this weekend.
Nonetheless Perez confirmed he and Max Verstappen will not have the same specification of equipment this weekend.
“I’m going to be on one spec a bit behind in the weekend,” he told the official F1 channel. “I really hope that is not too much of a penalty and we can really have a strong weekend and build from what we showed in Hungary.”
Perez finished seventh in Hungary, making up nine places during the race. His poor qualifying position was the result of his crash in Q1 which caused significant damage to his car (see below).
He also ran an older specification version of the car at Silverstone, where Verstappen was first to receive their updated floor. Most teams have run their cars in different specifications at times this year, notably McLaren in Miami, where Lando Norris was first to receive an upgrade, and Mercedes in Monaco, with George Russell.
Perez’s run of poor results, which Red Bull team principal Christian Horner described at Silverstone as “unsustainable”, have led to questions over his future at the team. But Perez continues to insist his place is not at risk.
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“The only discussions that there have been is how we get our season back on track,” he said. “Working with the engineers, working with the whole team, we all want to get back because we have a massive duty ahead of us.
“It’s probably the the biggest challenge we’ve had in a while, which is to win the constructors’ championship. In the moment it’s getting harder and harder, especially with McLaren.
“But that’s the main discussions we’ve had, the rest is pure speculation, like I’ve said before and I’ve got no further comments to make about my future.”
Perez’s damage in Hungary
Red Bull replaced the following parts on Perez’s car after his heavy crash in qualifying:
- Left and right front outboard suspension assemblies
- Left and right front inboard suspension assemblies
- Steering column…
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