Japanese Grand Prix should be great for Red Bull, says Sergio Perez

SUZUKA – Red Bull should be back to their dominant best in Japan this weekend after suffering their first defeat of the season in Singapore last Sunday, Mexican driver Sergio Perez said.

The Formula One champions had won 15 races in a row, including 2022’s season finale, until then but they return to the figure-of-eight Suzuka Circuit with every expectation of wrapping up the constructors’ title with six rounds to spare.

“This track is very different, so there should not be a reason why not to be strong in Suzuka. Actually, this should be one of the best circuits for us,” Perez said at the Honda-owned track on Thursday.

Perez, second overall but a massive 151 points behind teammate and two-time world champion Max Verstappen, said Red Bull still did not know exactly why they had struggled so much in Singapore.

Verstappen, winner of 10 races in a row until that point, finished fifth after starting 11th at Marina Bay, while Perez ended up eighth.

“We obviously have some good idea on how we prepare the weekend and the misinformation we had and where things got wrong,” said the Mexican.

“It’s something that we will keep internally, but there’s some good indications that we probably approached the weekend with the wrong set-up.”

Perez said the car had felt good on the Suzuka layout in the simulator, whereas Singapore had felt bad already before last weekend. “Hopefully it aligns well and it can be a good track for us,” he added.

Red Bull have denied any impact on their form of a recent FIA directive clamping down on flexible bodywork, and Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton expected Red Bull to be hard to beat again.

“I would think that if they’re not 30 seconds ahead like they have done in the past, then something’s up. Their car should be phenomenal here. They’ve been phenomenal all year long, they’ve aced pretty much every circuit,” said the Briton, who was third in Singapore, with a laugh.

His teammate George Russell agreed, saying Red Bull’s troubles in Singapore were “purely a one-off”. He said: “I expect them to be back to their winning ways, or at least to be back to the top of the field. If they’re not, that would be a lot of question marks being raised if they have another weekend like last week – but I don’t expect it.”

Hamilton doubted Mercedes would have the same level of performance as in Singapore, but hoped they were not too far off Red Bull.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lando Norris has urged Formula One to be tougher on drivers who impede others because it has become rife in the sport and nobody seems to care enough.

Verstappen received three summons to the stewards in Singapore last weekend for impeding in qualifying and was handed two reprimands but no grid penalty.

Norris, a good friend of Verstappen, said the Dutch driver should certainly have been penalised for hindering AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. REUTERS, AFP