Sergio Perez details Red Bull ‘downgrades’ after going on ‘wrong path’

Sergio Perez has revealed that a number of Red Bull F1 upgrades forced him onto the “wrong path” as he looks to turn around his difficult 2024 campaign.

Perez has scored just 28 points in the last eight races, resulting in Red Bull’s position at the top of the constructors’ championship to be under threat.

Red Bull sit just 42 points ahead of McLaren in the F1 constructors’ championship with 10 races to go.

His poor form led to intense speculation that Red Bull were considering making a driver change for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.

Speaking to media including Crash.net at Zandvoort on Thursday, Perez detailed what Red Bull learned during the F1 summer break.

“I basically went away and switched off,” he said. “But always, when you are in the summer break, the back of the mind is always in contact with the engineers and what's going on. And it was, I would say, a very positive break for Red Bull. We were able to find a lot of stuff.

“I think, at least, we know where we are with the car right now. You know, there's been an upgrade or two that probably took us in the wrong path.

“And, I think just looking back at it right now, we know exactly how the car is working, which is a very good thing, because I think it was not so clear in the last few races. Whether we can fix it and get back to the to the level we had earlier, that's another question. But I think in that regard, it's very positive.”

Perez is expected to drive with a different specification of F1 car as Red Bull revert to older parts in a bid to help the Mexican find his form.

When posed the question about whether they’re ‘downgrades’, Perez said: “It's clear now where we are with the car. I think it's, it's something that I also want to keep within the team, the level of detail and we will be working on it.

“I mean, you will see, obviously, what we're going to be doing with the with the cars, but it's something that will stay with the team. But certainly we've taken somewhere a turn that wasn't right.”

He added:  “I think especially with the with the issues we've had, I've been struggling in that direction. Obviously, I cannot go too much in detail, but lots of my struggles have been in that direction. I mean, it's hard to explain the amount of detail, but it's not like in the beginning of the of the year, I was much better driver than I am now, you know?

“Certainly there has been some things that didn't go my way that were hurting me more, and we were probably not extracting the maximum out of the car in that regard.”

The summer break meeting

It was widely reported that the meeting following the Belgian Grand Prix was to discuss Perez's future - and whether he would be replaced.

However, Perez remains adamant that his future wasn't the point of his discussion, rather it was performance.