Red Bull title battles denied Perez "adaptation" time

Sergio Perez has conceded the "intense" championship battles Red Bull endured during 2021 left him with "no adaptation" time following his switch from Racing Point.

Despite picking up a win in the sixth race of last year in Azerbaijan, Perez generally suffered a slow start to his time with the team as he struggled to adapt to the car.

Aside from the victory in Baku, Perez also claimed four third-place finishes, albeit the arguably poor return a factor in Red Bull's failure to clinch the constructors' title.

In comparison, Valtteri Bottas scored one win and 10 podiums for Mercedes who won its eighth consecutive title by a 28-point margin over Red Bull.

Speaking before the end of the season on the Tag Heuer 'The Edge' podcast, Perez said of the campaign that "it was very intense", one where he had no time to settle in due to the ferocity of the championship scrap.

He added: "The fact that we were, in my first year with Red Bull Racing, fighting for the constructors’ championship and Max was fighting for the drivers’, it was like I didn’t have that process of adaptation that generally is good for drivers to have when a car is competitive but is not winning a championship or is unable to win it.

“I came straight into it with no adaptation. It was a great challenge. It was really intense from my side with a lot of things to learn.

“I think I worked as hard as ever in my adaptation to the team with all of my engineers so it wasn’t easy but we were working and giving our very best.”

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