24/06/2021
NEWS STORY
Currently riding high with Red Bull, Sergio Perez admits he is keen to secure a new deal as soon as possible.
Following a somewhat shaky start, Sergio Perez appears to be settling in well with Red Bull, giving Max Verstappen the support he always needed if he and his team were to take on the might of Mercedes.
A win in Baku was followed by a podium finish in France, putting the Mexican third in the overall standings.
Confirmed by Red Bull on a one-year deal in late December last year, Perez is keen to get his plans for 2022 and beyond sorted as soon as possible.
"Right now we are so busy with the races, three in a row," he told reporters at Paul Ricard today, "there will be some downtime when we can speak about it.
"Hopefully it won't take too long, because I don't have good experiences when you take that long," he admitted, having faced being without a drive this year after Racing Point dropped him in favour of Aston Martin.
"I see it as a natural thing," he added, "once you are comfortable in the team, working with them and the team working with you, it's something that naturally should happen very smoothly.
"We should just take it out of the season and just focus on the right stuff."
"I knew Checo before," said Max Verstappen, "not as a team mate, so it's a little bit different. But I think so far it's been great and to be able to work together now up front to get the best result for the team is what you want.
"For sure, I would want that to continue. And yes, he's a great team mate and we can have a lot of fun as well; we don't always need to talk about cars and set-up and stuff."
While the win in Baku helped Red Bull maintain its championship lead, it was Perez' performance in France that helped the Austrian team consolidate its threat to Mercedes domination.
"Now, we have the car to really fight them it's super important to be up there with two cars," said Verstappen, "and that's exactly what we have been doing now in Baku and Paul Ricard, so, it's going to be crucial for the constructors' as well to keep this up until the end of the year."
Check out our Thursday gallery from Spielberg, here.