‘Not here just for the sake of it’ – Sergio Perez quizzed on Red Bull pressure

Sergio Perez is interviewed

Sergio Perez may have a new Red Bull contract but now Red Bull need him to start scoring points with the driver adamant he’s not here “just for the sake” of it, he wants to do his best for the team.

Perez was recently handed a new two-year deal by Red Bull, but in a case of history repeating itself, it has come in the midst of a slump for the Mexican driver.

Sergio Perez: I’m not here just for the sake of being here

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Failing to make it into Q3 three qualifying sessions in succession, he did manage to put his RB20 into the top ten in Spain but a grid penalty meant he started P11.

He could only recover to eighth place, crossing the line a minute down on race winner Max Verstappen.

The result marked Verstappen’s seventh win of this season while Perez has just four podiums, none from victories, and trails his team-mate by 108 points in the Drivers’ standings.

Perez’s struggles have opened the door for Red Bull’s rivals to score big points with Lando Norris on a charge as he bagged three runner-up results in the last four races while Ferrari won in Monaco.

It’s meant more pressure on Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship than they had in the previous two campaigns with team boss Christian Horner saying Red Bull “need” Perez to start bringing in big points.

Asked if the pressure of chasing a new contract had been swapped for pressure to score points, he told the media including PlanetF1.com: “I think it doesn’t change anything. We are in Formula One and we all know we have to perform to our best. And this is ultimately what we’re here for.

“I’m not here just for the sake of being here. We all want to do our best. We all are very competitive and we want to achieve great things.”

But conceding the new contract is “one less thing to worry about”, Perez added: “It’s all about performance now. It’s all about weekend after weekend, and making the right analysis with the team, making the right progression with the team. I think that’s key.”

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‘Small margins’ separating Red Bull and McLaren

Although last season Perez finished runner-up to Verstappen, this year that battle appears to between Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc with the McLaren up into second with his runner-up result in Spain.

Perez was asked about McLaren’s performance and whether the MCL38 is the ‘faster’ car.

“I think McLaren has been the most solid car in the last few races, in different track layouts they’ve been the most competitive. But you’re talking about small margins,” he said.

“So I think if we are able to maximise our package that will be better, things will look better for us. I know there is a long year ahead so we just have to keep our heads down.”

So far it’s been a year in which Perez has yet to outqualify his team-mate and trails him with an average gap of 0.609s. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel.

“I think the main one in Barcelona was we understood – obviously I cannot give too much detail, we understood a lot of the things that we had to cope with,” he explained.

“And at the end, we found very different issues in qualifying and in the race compared to the rest of the weekend.

“And given how the margins were, only a few tenths would change your life dramatically.

“I think it’s the same, and it will be the same for a lot of drivers during the year, if you don’t maximise your package that can be the difference from winning the race or finishing P8.”