SUZUKA, JAPAN - APRIL 07: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 during the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka International Racing Course on April 07, 2024 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images).

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez said that his second start was better than the first one but still not enough to get to Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver first assumed that “doing that restart again is always quite hard to maintain the focus for such a long period of time, and it worked alright.”

The Mexican finished second, a little bit more than 12s behind his teammate. The first stint caused him to lose balance and his place with Lando Norris.

“I think I suffered a bit from that first stint, a bit unbalanced. Which means we couldn’t keep it alive we had to box, and then we were undercut by Lando, and then I had to push too much on that medium stint.” 

His second part of the race was a bit better, and he had more pace: “On the hard stint I was a lot more comfortable the pace came back”.

Overall, Perez said that “it’s been a good weekend for the team”. He even compared it with his performance last year, noticing the fact that they have improved a lot.

“Here last year it was probably my worst weekend, so I think if we are strong in places like this with a lot of high-speed content and medium speed, I think we can be strong anywhere else.”