Sergio Perez admitted that he is still trying to find out all the details that he can exploit to feel more comfortable with the new RB20.
The Mexican qualified fifth in Bahrain, and he seemed way off Max Verstappen’s pace. However, he managed to make his way through the field on Saturday and ended up in P2. He wasn’t matching the Dutch’s pace, but at least he showed that he can help Red Bull achieve another constructor championship.
Perez also admitted that he doesn’t feel very comfortable with the new car, but he is starting to understand more, and hopefully, he will be able to maximize everything.
“I think at the moment, let’s say, the car is not super comfortable for me, but I understand a lot more of the car.
“I think as a team, we understand a lot more on how to maximize the performance out of the car. So, I think that’s something quite good for us.”
The Mexican added that the gap to his teammate in Bahrain was that big because he needed to fight other cars in the first part of the Grand Prix due to a not-so-perfect qualifying run.
“I think it was overall a good race, but in qualifying it wasn’t a perfect lap,” he said. “I didn’t put it together.
“I should have been on the front row, or third – and we are talking about a tenth or so. So, I think just tidying things up also in the race, as we didn’t have the right configuration with our set-up. We were not great at looking after the tire.”
Perez is also aware that other outfits will improve throughout the season, and he knows Red Bull will have to keep working to improve race by race.
“There are 23 races left, and you cannot fight for a championship by winning just one race,” he said.
“I think it’s important that we understood things that we could have done better in Bahrain and learn from that.
“We really need to keep that trajectory going upwards and become more competitive race-by-race, because everyone will be taking a step forwards from Bahrain. So we have to take two steps.”