Sergio Perez: Red Bull “miles off” at Silverstone

After an unproductive First Practice in wet conditions, FP2 at Silverstone was a problematic session for the championship leaders, plagued by various issues and a general lack of performance at the 17-turn circuit.

Red Bull’s long-run simulations were very limited, as the team struggled to optimise their set-up. Perez analysed Red Bull’s position after Friday running:

“I think from our preparation that we had and simulator, the car is miles off – so we assume that there’s something going on that we need to understand. And yes, it was a very, very short long run there at the end. So yes, not a great start. We are a bit on the back foot, so we just have to understand what’s going on with it.

It’s going to be pretty difficult, but we’ve done it before, and I think as long as we are able to get things in the right place, you need the confidence around these fast corners, so as long as I’m able to get back my confidence, I think things should be alright.”

Perez added that the team has some ideas about why they are struggling:

“We do have, I think, there are some [suspicions] on the aerodynamic side, but yes, obviously, we cannot go too much into detail.”

Ahead of the British GP weekend, Red Bull has strung together a streak of six consecutive race wins, a feat few would have predicted after Leclerc secured victory for Ferrari at the Australian GP.

Whilst the team’s comeback in the standings has been dramatic. The Austrian team cannot allow itself to become complacent as the first half of the season concludes, with Ferrari’s demise serving ad a perfect reminder of how quickly things can change in F1.

A Ferrari victory would be far from a disaster for Red Bull. Still, they will work to take a seventh consecutive win and prevent their Maranello-based rivals from gathering momentum.