Perez accepts Red Bull future is in his own hands

AFP | Budapest               

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Under-pressure Red Bull driver Sergio Perez admitted yesterday that his future is in his own hands following Alpha Tauri’s abrupt sacking of Dutch rookie Nyck de Vries.

Despite lying second in the drivers’ championship after 10 races, although 99 points adrift of runaway defending champion and team-mate Max Verstappen, Perez conceded that his position with Red Bull was not entirely secure.

“You’ve seen it with other drivers and other teams,” he said, referring to the pressure he felt. “They’ve had difficult periods, but then they don’t have 20 replacements after a session like they do with the Red Bull drivers.”

After an extended run of five poor qualifying performances, in which he has failed to reach the top 10 qualifying shoot-out, the Mexican told reporters ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix that he would bounce back to form.

“It’s in my hands, that’s why I am focused on myself – I am the first one. I am a winner. I don’t like to have bad weekends. It’s not what I am here for. “I would rather be at home doing something else. I’m here because I know that I can do it. I’ve done it before and people just on the sofa forget how we have (little breathing space).”

He added that he had been working intensively with his engineers since the British Grand Prix, after which Red Bull re-serve and former race driver Daniel Ricciardo was handed De Vries’ seat at Alpha Tauri, the junior team in the Red Bull stable.

“We have some ideas for here,” he said, referring to the tight, twisty and technical Hungaroring circuit. “Nothing has an instant impact in F1, as we know. At the same time, we just have to look back at my season and if I’m second in the world championship, it’s for a reason.