Sergio Perez, who has faced criticism over his performance in recent races, expects a performance boost at the next round when he receives the same floor upgrade his team mate had at Silverstone.
Max Verstappen ran the only example of Red Bull’s new floor for its RB20 at Silverstone. However team principal Christian Horner said the revised part was only a “minimal upgrade” for the car.Perez failed to score for the third time in five races last weekend after being eliminated in the first round of qualifying when he spun into a gravel trap at Copse. Afterwards Perez said he expects to be in a stronger position at the next round.
“I’m just trying to find the solutions, really,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans. “I think we’re making good progress.
Horner confirmed Verstappen used the sole example of Red Bull’s new floor last weekend. “There was only one floor available on one side of the garage this weekend,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans.
Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko reportedly claimed the floor was only worth six points of downforce, a figure Horner declined to confirm. However he said: “It’s no secret that we have less development time in the others, and we’re at the top of the curve. So you’re into diminishing returns.”
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Verstappen damaged his new floor when he also spun at Copse in qualifying, though he was able to continue. The trip through the gravel “totally trashed” the floor, said Horner.
“So actually the lap time he did in quali, to be as close as he was – if you could see the floor it was like something out of Scrapheap Challenge that the mechanics managed to put back together – it was super-impressive. So his lap time yesterday, to only be a tenth off Lando [Norris], I thought was very encouraging.”
The damage initially cost Verstappen around 100 points of downforce but his mechanics were able to make repairs and improve it during the session.
“We managed to recover a reasonable portion of that with the repairs that the mechanics were able to do in between the sessions,” said Horner. “But of course it’s not just the load it’s how it then changed your balance.
“So suddenly he’d got no front end, he was having to have a little lift in Copse, whereas it was absolutely flat previously. So it took away that balance.”
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2024 British Grand Prix
- The ‘good and bad’ reason Piastri is sure he can win after three near-misses
- Gasly solved mystery handling problem by using Ocon’s settings
- Mercedes “will be in an even stronger position” after next upgrade – Hamilton
- Verstappen “refuses to believe” Red Bull are reaching limit of RB20’s potential
- Why “under construction” McLaren still celebrate third place after missing a win
Jere (@jerejj)
9th July 2024, 7:32
Another matter is whether he can use those tenths for good.
Simon
9th July 2024, 20:54
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ilmiantaja
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th July 2024, 5:59
Looks like a finnish message to me, which is against the site rules, where all messages should be written in english.
anon
10th July 2024, 7:31
@esploratore1 it is, and it’s a case of using a different language to mask the fact he is abusing that poster.
David BR (@david-br)
10th July 2024, 13:55
Seems to mean ‘informer’, ‘grass’ or ‘whistleblower.’ No idea why Simon thinks that, but doesn’t seem particularly abusive.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th July 2024, 5:59
Yes, unlikely, I would say.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
9th July 2024, 8:03
Well then, only a full second left to find after that. Best of luck to you, Checkers.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
9th July 2024, 9:05
Can hopefully creep out of Q1 now!
tielemst
9th July 2024, 9:19
Be honest Keith, did you just take last year’s article and replace RB19 with RB20?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
9th July 2024, 9:33
Damn, rumbled.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
9th July 2024, 9:39
Mmmm Perez are you sure it is just the new floor at Silverstone?
* First 6 races points scored Max 136 and Perez 103
* Last 6 races points scored Max 119 and Perez 15
Hulkenberg also didn’t have the new RB20 floor but scored 16 points in last 2 races :-)
Vulture
9th July 2024, 10:01
Are you saying that red bull stopped development on Perez car and focused only on Verstappen? Or that Perez has suddenly become the worst driver on the grid?
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
9th July 2024, 11:24
I am saying that Perez having the new floor in Silverstone would have made no difference.
In fairness I wouldn’t blame Red Bull if they stopped giving Perez any new parts and save the money to do more development – any new part/money spend on Checo will be a waste of resources/money at the moment.
Given the current competitive picture even if Perez starts to perform (a lot) better it will help Red Bull little in their fight for WCC. If Perez is 0.3 second behind Max in qualify and 0.2 second per lap in race – it means at best Perez starts 6th and without his mistakes at least 8th.
With current reliability of car it Perez is lucky he gains 1-2 places during the race – with normal Perez performance there should be no threat from behind. So Perez finishes 5-8th in the race – giving him new parts might make 1 place difference = 2 point = 24 points over the remainder of the season.
Spending that money on development and only Max car might make a place difference between 4th to 1st – every place gained at the sharp end is minimal 3 points and in case of a win 7 points.
Vulture
9th July 2024, 12:08
Yeah I wouldn’t put it past red bull to focus development on the 1 car and for Perez to accept it. He’s a good little boy. No wonder red bull won’t replace him. I would bet my house and car on that being the case and he is just mentally destroyed by it therefore not performing.
baasbas
9th July 2024, 13:05
@Vulture
Okay, I’ll bite. Although I only qualify for silver right now.. still.
This line of reasoning can be read on more forums throughout seasons but it’s ridiculous. And someone should point it out.
In case you haven’t noticed, RBR is being outscored in the constructors. That is serious stuff for the team. Of course they want the second car to score points.
So please now give me your house and car, thank you.
anon
10th July 2024, 7:40
baasbas, Red Bull is not as concerned as other manufacturers about the WCC – indeed, in the past, they’ve talked about being prepared to compromise on that title to benefit the WDC instead.
As they themselves have stated, their business model has a higher emphasis on the commercialising the success of their drivers than other teams and therefore increasing the commercial value of their driver through winning a WDC is of greater importance than the WCC.
baasbas
9th July 2024, 13:08
@f1statsfan
Except they already developed the new floor so it would be silly expensive to NOT use it on Perez’ car as well. Lets use the same assumptions, I don’t think they’re willing to spend money to make Perez drop an additional 24 points
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th July 2024, 6:03
As bad as perez is driving, that’s just impressive for hulkenberg!
stefano (@alfa145)
9th July 2024, 10:15
so he will be only .5 seconds off the pace, now! way to go Checo! you can beat Haas and even some Alpine now
Jungle
9th July 2024, 10:43
Give Yuki a go.
Mr B
9th July 2024, 21:19
It would be awesome to see Yuki in the Red Bull.
BLS (@brightlampshade)
9th July 2024, 11:28
Red Bulls recurring self inflicted nbr2 issues continue.
Scotty (@rockonscotty)
9th July 2024, 11:40
I thought they changed the floor with the same spec part after the damage in Qually? Does that mean they actually had two floors but decided to leave Max with a spare than give Checo the upgrade?
Sham (@sham)
9th July 2024, 12:44
I was wondering the same thing – because if they replaced it with a different spec part, it would have meant a pit lane start.
So they either had 2 of the new floor, or they didn’t replace but repaired, or something doesn’t add up.
It would make me laugh if Perez had the new floor in quali too, but they took it off and gave it to Max so he didn’t get penalised because Perez was starting from the pit lane anyway because of power unit penalties…
It would be nice to know what happened here.
N
9th July 2024, 17:18
They do have a history of that, 2010 if i remember, Vettel and Webber had a new front wing, but only 1 each, Vettel’s broke during practice so they took Webber’s and stuck it on Vettel’s car
SteveP
9th July 2024, 19:17
Are you suggesting that CH didn’t tell the truth about how many new floors they brought, or that they told porkies to the FIA about the replacement floor being the same spec as the damaged one?
Gasp! CH, not sticking to the truth? Whatever will people suggest next? Overpriced sarnies?
Patrick (@paeschli)
9th July 2024, 19:47
Why are you talking about Switzerland?
SteveP
9th July 2024, 21:23
A small abbreviation to initials, although I should perhaps have used HCH – “Hans Christian Horner” fabricator of tales and general fiction. :)
Steve (@scbriml)
9th July 2024, 12:17
Perez needs a lot more than 0.2s per lap.
Edvaldo
9th July 2024, 14:30
We all know he says these things just to hang on to something. It’s not the floor and he knows it.
Ronny
9th July 2024, 16:51
Replace him with Pato O’ward. Can keep the Mexican Sponsorship worth 35 million. And have a more competitive driver.
Such a no Brainer choice.
Nick T.
9th July 2024, 17:03
Pretty sure that’s not how it works…
Ronny
10th July 2024, 1:36
How are you sure? Those Mexican sponsors are seeing clearly that Perez is failing. If i was them i would want a more competitive driver promoting their brands.
Also O’ward has enough Super Licence points.
And if he was smart at contract negotiations he would have an F1 escape clause.
SteveP
9th July 2024, 19:18
I’m not sure Zak would approve of that
Ronny
10th July 2024, 1:31
Who cares what Zak thinks. If Pato is smart he would have an Escape Clause if F1 calls. Most Formula E drivers have that aswell.
isthatglock21
9th July 2024, 19:21
Sometimes i find myself replaying a Perez interview as most of what he says flies right over my head. He literally never owns up, always got a reason or an excuse. Shame, Cause I’ve always liked Checo, also Redbull truly is a black hole for anyone but Max.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th July 2024, 6:23
Ricciardo was pretty successful too at red bull, he just left cause I think he thought he wouldn’t be able to beat verstappen, which, as it turned out, would’ve been almost impossible for everyone.
MichaelN
9th July 2024, 20:09
Why is Horner getting such a free pass on this? He runs this organization, and they’ve been unable to have a solid two-driver line-up for six full years. Their controversial second team, once a supplier of young talent to F1 as a whole, has devolved into a pointless exercise where they dump their obligatory Japanese driver and Smiling Ric. Their upgrade path of the RB20 also seems to be a big miss, going from a dominant start of the season to the current situation.
Verstappen is doing a lot of carrying for this team at the moment. And with Honda jumping ship to Aston Martin, and Newey calling it quits on his involvement, the future of this outfit isn’t exactly all sunshine and roses.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th July 2024, 6:25
Arguably they had a solid line up in 2021, but apart from that it’s indeed a long time for a top team to not have a good line up.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th July 2024, 6:31
Agree verstappen is carrying the team atm, the only way they’re keeping ahead of mclaren and merc in the championship is his incredible consistency, he’s so consistent that I don’t know if it’s more likely that mclaren falls behind cause both drivers get a no score or that verstappen does, another driver would have issues carrying perez atm.
David BR (@david-br)
12th July 2024, 20:10
Verstappen is possibly quite happy to be lead driver facing zero threat from his team mate. He seems to be doing just fine out there on his own. However, you’re 100% right about that not translating as ideal for Red Bull with Newey leaving and Verstappen’s continuing presence at the team in no sense guaranteed. Where’s their backup? The situation could go various ways, including Horner himself opting to leave. Maybe if Verstappen goes to Mercedes they just swap with Russell? Or Leclerc leaves Ferrari for Red Bull? In every case, though, it would seem more sensible to have a good backup in the team already.
slowmo (@slowmo)
10th July 2024, 1:35
Assuming Red Bull replaced Verstappen’s floor for the race and that it would be the old spec floor as they had only one, would that not make his car illegal running a different specification to that which entered Parc ferme? I suspect the answer is they possibly allowed it did the FIA but should they. If this is
WheeledWarrior
10th July 2024, 9:14
I expect Perez his days are numbered despite that contract extension. If he bins it again in Hungary or Belgium or misses out on another Q3, I can see Red Bull replacing him after the summer break.