Perez tips Red Bull to ‘dominate next few years’

Sergio Perez made the bold prediction that his Red Bull team will “dominate” Formula 1 in the coming seasons.

Red Bull returned to title contention in 2021, Max Verstappen snatching the Drivers’ Championship from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Mercedes would win the Constructors’ title for an eighth season in succession.

The Silver Arrows have fallen away from that conversation at the top though in 2022, with their place taken by Ferrari who have battled with Red Bull across the opening four rounds.

The scores are even so far, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Verstappen both have two victories apiece, but Perez believes that Red Bull are in position do embark on a fresh dominant run from here.

In an interview with Chacho López, Perez said: “We still have a lot of problems to solve, but the main thing is that we are competitive and Red Bull is set to dominate the next few years with these new regulations.”

Poor reliability certainly hampered the Austrian outfit in the opening rounds, Verstappen twice retiring while running P2 in Bahrain and Australia, while Perez was also forced to retire in Bahrain.

So, without that misfortune, Perez says Red Bull would comfortably have been the leading force at this stage of the season.

As it stands, Verstappen trails Leclerc by 27 points, while Red Bull are 11 points behind Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.

“We should be leading both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles,” Perez stated.

“It’s been a difficult start but the team has worked hard to keep up with Ferrari, we’ve cut several points off Ferrari.”

Verstappen led home a one-two finish for Red Bull at the most recent outing at Imola.

Perez did come under some pressure from Leclerc, but the Monegasque driver would spin into the wall, forcing him into a front-wing change as he ultimately finished P6 and gave up valuable points.

Perez then says this is a season where Red Bull must go on the attack, but avoid the kind of mistakes demonstrated by Leclerc.

“We are in a season where we have to go on the attack and we are in the fight,” said Perez.

“This weekend (Imola) was important, and the easiest thing was to make a mistake, as it happened with other drivers (Leclerc)”.

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