Sergio Perez says he fully believes he can turn around his unsettled 2023 campaign with Red Bull and return his performance to the level where it should be.
After trading wins with Max Verstappen in the opening races of the season, Perez's crash in qualifying Monaco marked the beginning of a succession of setbacks that have seen the Mexican fail to qualifying among the top ten on Saturday on five consecutive race weekends.
At Silverstone, Perez was caught out by the track's changing conditions in Q1, which left him a lowly P15 on Sunday's grid.
He nevertheless succeeded in finishing sixth after a consistent drive up the field, although he believes that circumstances hampered his efforts.
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"Nothing really worked today," Perez explained after the race. "I had a great launch but then I was pushed off the track by Esteban [Ocon] and I lost positions at the start, so it took me longer to come through the field.
"Then we pitted like three or four laps before the Safety Car came out, so that was a bit of a shame."
Perez knows that there's only one way for him to avoid the potential pitfalls that come with racing in the midfield: qualifying better.
"Year, I know where is the problem, and it’s on Saturday," he said. "There is a few things we need to correct, but the positive thing is that the pace is there on Sundays, at the end of the day where points are given.
"I’m still second in the championship and I have full belief that I can turn around my season and get back to the level I should be.
"I’m already in the simulator [on Monday], we have some ideas of where to work on and I’m confident that we will be able to go through it."
Both Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and Helmut Marko are committed to helping Perez pull himself out of his current slump. The Mexican is appreciative of the support and feels "mentally strong".
"I have full support from the team, from Helmut, Christian, all my engineers," he commented. "Everyone in the team knows what I’m capable of, it’s [just] how it goes sometimes.
"When we don’t feel fully comfortable with the car, you tend to see these margins. It has happened to any other driver, but it’s how you overcome these situations.
"The most important thing is that mentally I’m very strong, I’m at a very strong point and I have no doubts that I will overcome this."
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