Verstappen and Pérez still with a different floor

Sergio Pérez will again use a different floor to that of Max Verstappen this weekend for the Dutch Grand Prix. The Mexican driver was using an alternative specification of this element at Spa-Francorchamps but had all the trouble in the world to rise to the level of his teammate, who climbed from 14th place on the grid to first in the race.

The floor used by Sergio Pérez offers a new direction that Red Bull had initially been tested and then quickly abandoned on Max Verstappen’s single-seater during the British and Austrian Grands Prix. It’s a similar solution to Ferrari’s, with a cutout on the edge of the floor and a tab-like section that comes off.

Both floor versions on the Red Bull RB18.

The World Champion would not appreciate this development and has therefore chosen to return to the previous specification, but Red Bull wants to insist and collect more data by installing it permanently on Sergio Pérez’s RB18. “We just have different floors at the moment”confirms the Mexican pilot. “We are going to have this floor for the next Grands Prix. And yes, we are going to try to have a better reading of it.”

Now second in the championship, Sergio Pérez is himself looking for answers as to the performance gap that is widening with his teammate compared to the start of the year. The development of the Milton Keynes single-seater seems to have moved towards a balance that suits its neighbor in the garage more and its piloting is now less easy for him.

“I think at first I was more comfortable”insists Sergio Pérez. “Every time I started a weekend in EL1, I felt like I was already easily satisfied with the balance, and things just came naturally. As the season progressed, I feel like “It’s become more and more difficult. Every weekend I really have to go deep into the analysis. And yes, I’m not as comfortable with the car as I was before.”

Sergio Pérez spent some time at the Milton Keynes factory this week trying to figure out why Max Verstappen was so successful in pulling the quintessence of the single-seater, alongside its growing difficulties. “He was great, super fast last weekend, really strong”he can only see. “I went to the simulator this week to try to figure it all out. And hopefully I can get back to it.”