MONTREAL (AFP) – Buoyed by his victory in Monaco and Red Bull’s dominant recent form, Sergio Perez (AFP; pic below) said he will be seeking more street circuit success at tomorrow’s Canadian Grand Prix.
The Mexican, who was second behind world champion and team-mate Max Verstappen in last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, plans to study his Baku race closely in a bid to grab another podium finish.
“I am going to spend some time understanding that race in Baku more in detail with my engineers so that I can get the most out of this weekend,” he said.
“It’s nice to be back in Canada. It’s a circuit I enjoy driving – and taking a car, which is so competitive, to race on this circuit is going to be fun.
“It’s a great moment for the team now. Scoring maximum points last weekend in Baku was a brilliant result for us all and it keeps us in the fight for both titles.
“It was a frustrating day, in parts, but when you have a disappointing day and still come second – and get the fastest lap – you cannot say it’s too bad.
“And this car is really performing on the street circuits so we are confident we can put together another strong performance this weekend and keep up the momentum.”
Red Bull have taken full advantage of Ferrari’s reliability and other problems to record a run of five straight wins that has catapulted Verstappen to the top of the drivers’ standings, having won four of those five.
Furthermore, three of those triumphs have seen the team claim a one-two, a surge of supremacy that has lifted them 80 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship while Perez has climbed to second, 21 points behind Verstappen, in the drivers’ title race.
His solid form has already earned him a new contract, agreed and signed following his Monaco win, and helped turn Red Bull into a team that has two reliable heavy points scorers without over-reliance on Verstappen.
Perez’s form and the team’s overall superior reliability to Ferrari, on the evidence so far this year, makes them favourites for another big haul of points in Sunday’s race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a hybrid track that is partly street circuit and partly purpose-built alongside the rowing lake used at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
The bumpy and fast track is expected to test the strength and durability of the teams as much as Baku did last week, another reason for Red Bull’s confidence as one of the few not to suffer excessively from ‘porpoising’ and bouncing.
