Sergio Perez says the Silverstone circuit "hasn't been kind to me" in the past, but he hopes to change that this weekend and get on the podium for the first time at the British Grand Prix. In his previous ten starts at Silverstone, which could be 12 if it had not been because he fell ill with COVID in 2020 and had to be absent from the two races held on the English circuit that year, the Mexican driver wears a sixth position in 2016 as his best finish, achieved with Force India.
In addition, last year, as a Red Bull driver, "Checo" had an accident in the Silversonte sprint race when he lost control of his Red Bull RB16B at the exit of the Chapel curve that precedes the Hangar straight. On Sunday he started from the back of the grid and could have scored a point, but the team called him into the pits shortly after the end to fit soft tires and snatch the lap record point from Lewis Hamilton, being 16th at the flag to "Silverstone hasn't been good to me in the last few races. I really hope we can get everything in place this weekend and get to the podium here," Pérez said at a press conference on Thursday.
Asked if he thinks the RB18 could adapt well to the high-speed corners that Silverstone has, the Mexican replied: "I think it should be good, we should be in a good place. Without a doubt the competition will be tight, and there is also the factor of weather here always, which can play a big part". Pérez arrives at Silverstone in second place in the championship, 46 points behind his teammate, Max Verstappen, after having obtained a victory so far, in the Monaco GP, and a total of five podiums in nine races in 2022.
"The more time I spend with the team, the better in many aspects: the trust within the team, the knowledge of the procedures, the knowledge of how the team operates, how they think in terms of strategies, how they see the big picture," Pérez said of his performance this season.
"I think it's all about understanding the big picture as a group, as a team, and that has helped me a lot. Certainly guiding the direction of the car or my set-up has helped me a lot," he concluded.
