Sergio Perez working with psychologist to combat rising Red Bull pressure

Sam Cooper 27 Jul 2023 4:17 PM

Sergio Perez speaking into a microphone. Spa, Belgium. July 2023. — Sergio Perez speaks to the media.

Sergio Perez revealed he is working with a psychologist to help improve his performance following his recent troubles.

While the idea of a sports psychologist would have seemed unique decades ago, they are commonplace in many high-level sport teams these days.

F1 is no different and as well as the physical aspects, the sport can be challenging from a mental perspective as well.

Perez is a perfect example of that. After a good start, his form dropped and as a result has faced questions over his long-term future at Red Bull and if Daniel Ricciardo is being lined up as a replacement.

‘You have a bad session and then you have to answer questions about your future straightaway’

Those questions are not without reason. Red Bull has a reputation for ruthlessness, seen most recently with the swift dismissal of Nyck de Vries, and while Max Verstappen is performing well enough on his own to secure both titles, a change in that could see the Milton Keynes outfit act.

Perez has often appeared on the outside at least a driver who has strong emotions, meaning it can be hard for him to break a run of bad form.

In Hungary, he made the first step in doing that, reaching Q3 and finishing on the podium but Perez knows more is still expected.

Perez revealed that his Monaco crash left a particularly strong mental scar but he worked to overcome that with his psychologist.

“I think certainly after Monaco I lost some confidence,” he told media including PlanetF1.com. “Because the way that my crash happened I did lose a bit of confidence with the car and that put me back.

“I have my psychologist and that’s something that I work on.”