Sergio “Checo” Pérez faces the opportunity of a lifetime. Car, team and maturity and talent. There is a lot of talk that he can be a good teammate of Max Verstappen at Red Bull, but the Mexican is clear, if the car is there, his goal is to win the championship, not to finish in. the first three places of the final Formula 1 standings.
Interviewed via Zoom From his hotel in Bahrain, where the F1 2021 season kicks off on March 28, Checo Pérez did not dare to give an accurate prediction of his performance at first, because the real potential of the RB16B, the car of his car, is of course still present. uncertain team compared to the other teams.
The 31-year-old from Guadalajara is entering his eleventh season with the Gran Circo, but for the first time is in a realistic position to be seen as a contender for the title, something he accepts.
But he also has the intermediate goals of doing what he has been doing for years: getting more points out of the car than its true potential indicates.
“I don’t have a goal for wins or points, etc. It’s hard to rate because we don’t know how competitive the car is. But my goal is to get the most out of the car I have. have to win the championship, if I have a car to finish third, to finish second. Always being one step ahead is my goal, ”he said.
– Your 2020 season was the best Mexican in history, what do you think about the opportunity to make more history and maybe improve and be in the top three?
“It’s a great opportunity. My goal is to win the championship, not to be in the top three, that’s my biggest dream and my highest goal in my career.” I will fight with anything, it looks like I have a car to do. let’s hope I can fulfill them “.
The main variant is always the car, but he’s sure it will be Saturday, when you can see how close Red Bull and the rest are to the dominant Mercedes that has won the constructors’ championship seven years in a row.
– Has Red Bull presented the best car of the preseason?
“It’s hard to know at the moment, but I think without a doubt we’ll be close to Mercedes. At least it’s the goal, we’ll see on Sunday and especially on Saturday in qualifying.”
1:04
Red Bull driver Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez sees the biggest difference in tires with previous seasons this year.
TIRES ARE THE KEY
When asked about the regulatory and car changes in 2021 related to it, he emphatically stressed that the tires are the real fine point that will define the season.
“I think some teams have influenced us more than others (the changes in the aerodynamics of the cars in the floor, the height of the rear section and the cooling system), I think that is the most important factor and that little is said about the tires of these years. The grip problem compared to last year comes not so much in the aerodynamic loads that they took from the teams. I think it’s more this year’s tires that are quite difficult compared to the previous one, “Sergio Pérez pointed it out.
With all that in mind, given that Checo is arguably the best tire manager in Formula 1 today, Pérez believes he could be a contender for the title.
“Sooner or later we’ll have to see, we’ll have to see how competitive the car is, but if the car is as competitive as we think, without a doubt (I’ll be a contender). I think I have the car. now it’s up to me to maximize it. “