Perez finished in eighth place, behind his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, by eight tenths of a second in the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix. Perez believes that the lack of new tires affected his performance and that his deficit to Verstappen does not accurately reflect his capabilities. Despite starting with worn tires in Q3, Perez’s difference to Lando Norris in second place was less than five tenths. Perez expressed frustration at not having the opportunity to secure a higher position on the grid due to tight margins and tire usage. In the Sprint race, Perez was unable to progress and dropped to eighth place behind Charles Leclerc. However, Perez remains hopeful that he can challenge the Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes cars in the main race. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner emphasized the importance of Perez reducing the gap to Verstappen and promised to support him in identifying the factors that caused his performance drop.
