Perez forced to “change” F1 driving style to challenge dominant Verstappen

Since the Miami Grand Prix in May, Verstappen has won eight consecutive races, while Perez has finished on the podium just four times.

During the same period, Perez failed to reach Q3 in five consecutive races.

Prior to the summer break, he seemed to turn a corner, securing a distant second behind Verstappen at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Speaking ahead of the F1 Dutch Grand Prix, Perez confirmed he’s had to adjust his driving style due to how the RB19 has been developed.

“Yeah, it was quite important to finish strong the last two races, especially there is no secret as the car developed I struggled a little bit more,” he said. 

“Things were not coming naturally anymore, and I had to go very deep on my driving style, adapt to it quite a bit and change it because the car has simply changed, and I think in the last two races were a lot better in that regard.”

Perez was then asked if the car development was more suited to teammate Verstappen - a theory put forward by many given how much the Mexican has struggled, he replied: “I think at the end of the day the team is trying to make the fastest car. Sometimes the development suits one style better than other, that’s how it works?”

The 33-year-old sits over 120 points behind Verstappen, who looks set to secure a third consecutive title in the near distant future.

Despite Verstappen’s dominant run, Perez is taking motivation from it given that it shows how great the Red Bull package is.

“Yeah, certainly, it hasn’t been easy for me because I know the car potential,” he added. “Max has been exploiting that but when you don’t really have that feeling that you know that your car has massive potential its not an easy situation to be in as a driver. 

“But certainly we have a great race car, and we just have to make sure that we utilise it, because you never know when you’re going to have a car as good as this one.”