Forthcoming Belgium GP Can Inspire Sergio Perez

Much like any other sport, there are, usually speaking, good days in F1. Then there are bad days where for some reason or the other, your luck doesn’t seem to work in your favour. And then, finally, there are terrible days where a string of low-key or let’s say successively disappointing results totally cast a doubt on your capability and performance.

And truth be told, perhaps no one but Sergio Perez can understand the above in the light of the rather disappointing run of form that he’s been grappling with. Just how often has an F1 driver found his place in the very team under a spot of bother not long after re-signing with the very outfit with regard to a contract extension?

There have been multiple occasions where Sergio Perez has, quite simply, either spun out in the qualifying battle and that too, in its initial stages or struggled to make to the final round of qualifying.

Resultantly, Sergio Perez has more often than not, found himself sliding back to the end of the pack instead of being a dominant force stacked out in the front much like his teammate.

A more recent example of this was the sport’s most recent or latest Formula 1 Grand Prix that too place at the Hungaroring, home to the Hungarian GP. Perez struggled in the initial stages at Hungary and couldn’t put together a strong result in quali.

As seen a few hours back, Perez spun his Red Bull at Turn 8 at the Hungaroring, which led him to make an unfortunate visit to the barriers, thus triggering a red flag.

However, what was perhaps rather under-appreciated at the conclusion of the recent 70-lap battle was that Perez ended seventh, behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. In a way, it was a race that was nicely balanced in terms of doing some damage recovery.

What is it about Spa last year that could excite Sergio Perez in 2024?

Having said that, it could be argued that what Perez most needs at the moment is a strong result at the forthcoming Belgian Grand Prix of 2024, which will be held in a few weeks’ time at the picturesque Spa-Francorchamps. And that told, it must be said that something about Spa will excite the noted Mexican driver who is clearly struggling with indifferent form at the moment.

But in order to understand why that could be the case, revisiting the last year’s race at Spa will serve a fine case in point.

The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix was actually an event where Perez managed a fighting second in the end. While surely, his race pace wasn’t quite threatening especially when compared to the eventual winner, Max Verstappen, Perez did a fine job to ensure a perfect result for his team.

Truth be told, it’s just the kind of thing that the experienced man in Formula 1 desperately needs at this time. Last year, Perez was being pursued in the closing stages by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. But the Red Bull’s race pace was much better especially in comparison to other fast machines out on the track; those being Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.

Both these drivers, could as a matter of fact, race hard once again come Spa given the sheer wealth of experience they command at the venue. But where it comes to Perez, then the man often described as the driver in the ‘other’ Red Bull would like to draw some experience from the fine vein of form he was in this time around last year.

If you were to recollect facts from 2023, then it would strike you that Perez had also bagged a podium just before his stellar effort at Spa last year; at Hungary, which was one race prior to the mega action at Spa Francorchamps, Perez secured a fighting third.

He would improve in a few days’ time to capture a second at Belgium. It’s the race track where he’s going to enter in the next few days. This time, however, the 34-year-old would first hope for a rampant qualifying performance and then, a strong, hopefully podium-driven effort at the heart of the Ardennes.