Sergio Perez ‘not that bad’ – Support emerges amid nightmare F1 run

Former Bridgestone competition chief Kees van de Grint has leapt to the defence of the struggling Sergio Perez, as well as Red Bull team principal Christian Horner after the decision to give Perez a new multi-year deal.

On the eve of the Canadian Grand Prix, it was announced that Perez had put pen to paper on a new Red Bull contract running until the end of the F1 2026 campaign, though it did not spark an immediate turnaround in form.

Sergio Perez current form ‘not a reflection of how he is as a driver’

Perez suffered Q1 elimination in Monaco and crashed out on the opening lap after tangling with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, while the Canadian GP which followed produced another Q1 exit for Perez, before spinning out of the race.

To compound Perez’s misery, he will take a three-place grid drop for the Spanish Grand Prix after driving his damaged Red Bull back to the pits in Canada, while Red Bull were fined €25,000.

However, van de Grint does not believe these struggles are an accurate reflection of Perez as a driver, while he defended the decision to offer Perez a new Red Bull deal.

“It might be a bit of a dead giveaway, but it’s clear that Perez is going through a valley at the moment,” van de Grint told RacingNews365.com.

“First of all, it’s very close. In the past, you were 16th because you were two seconds or even more too slow. But now we are talking about hundredths and tenths of a second. Perez is not doing well at the moment, that’s clear, but that is also not a reflection of how he is as a driver. He can do better.

“You can say a lot about team boss Christian Horner, but not that he doesn’t have a view or doesn’t know what he’s doing.

“Horner will have weighed a number of other behind-the-scenes factors besides Perez’s driving ability, such as calmness in the team and the commercial background.

“But he will not have made that choice if he thinks, ‘This guy can’t do anything’. This is bad luck and it gives food for thought, but Perez is not that bad.”

Can Sergio Perez return to form?

? ‘Lost’ Sergio Perez receives ‘won’t last long’ Red Bull warning amid fresh slump

? Why Sergio Perez won’t have the ‘straightforward’ weekend he wants to ‘regroup’

Speaking to media after his disappointing race in Canada, Perez, who started the F1 2024 campaign with four podiums in the opening five races, spoke confidently about his belief that he can return to that level.

“I think it’s time to regroup, put our head down,” he said.

“There is a long season. A few races ago we’ve been on form, so there is no doubt that I cannot be back to that level.”

Perez has slipped to P5 in the Drivers’ Championship, 87 points behind leader and Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.

Read next: ‘I wonder if he really wants to be a driver’ – Helmut Marko questions Lance Stroll’s F1 commitment