Sergio Perez says he is having to completely rethink his driving style to adapt to the characteristics of Red Bull's 2021 car, insisting his previous way of driving "simply doesn't work" with the RB16B.
Perez has finished twice among the top five since the start of the season but missed out on points at Imola where the Mexican had qualified an impressive P2, but where he also made several mistakes on race day.
Perez feels his current inconsistent pace is due to his necessity to adapt to his new car and change his approach to driving.
"Everything that I used to do, very few things work in this car," he told reporters on Thursday in Barcelona.
"In that regard, I’m just having to adapt to a new style in the race, in qualifying, in practices with different fuel loads and yeah everything has to be very conscious.
"At every corner, nothing is coming naturally just yet, but to be where we are, being that close – at Portugal, I was very close in race pace so definitely we see good progress in that regard."
©RedBull
Perez revealed that in order to facilitate his adaptation to Red Bull's RB16B, a car in large part tailor-made for Max Verstappen, he's chosen for the time being to use the Dutchman's set-up.
"I’m taking the approach of first I need to adapt to the car," the Mexican explained.
“We have had such limited track time with these cars this year with the new rules of testing and also in practice that everything happens very quickly.
"So it’s very hard to do any work like we used to in practices when we had more time, now it’s really a couple of runs and the day is over.
"At the same time I have a very strong reference in Max, he’s obviously taking 110% out of the car from practice one all the way until Sunday, so I think first I need to get to that level and then move around.
"That’s my view. It makes no sense to follow another direction because I’m just going to get lost, so I’m working in a very similar basis as my teammate."
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