Sergio Perez believes he’s getting close to being on the “front foot” again and will be running the updated floor as used by Max Verstappen in recent races.

Perez and Verstappen have been running different floor specifications in recent races, with Red Bull attempting to get on top of the balance issues brought about through its mid-season development packages.

Sergio Perez addresses question on future ahead of Las Vegas

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

Perez’s disappointing form throughout F1 2024 has led to plenty of speculation about his future, with Red Bull falling to third in the Constructors’ Championship as a result of the Mexican’s low scoring.

With three races left, Red Bull needs Perez on a more level playing field with Verstappen and, to that end, will be running the updated floor design Red Bull brought along for Verstappen for the most recent races – a specification which has brought back some of the balance lost with earlier iterations.

Perez has had to field plenty of rumours about his own future recently, with Red Bull boss Christian Horner and consultant Helmut Marko each hinting that a decision on the team’s driver line-up may be made following the season as Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto have each been linked with Perez’s seat.

Asked to comment on the speculation ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Perez told the media, including PlanetF1.com, that he’s aiming to round out the season on a high.

“I think, at the end of the day, the team knows exactly what they get out of me,” he said.

“They have so much data and information and, yeah, it’s as simple as that.

“There is a reason why they renewed me during the year as well,” he continued, referring to the two-year contract extension announced after his particularly strong start to this year.

“I think the season has been quite difficult in many ways. I mean, we started the season extremely strong, but then we had quite a difficult period throughout the year.

“So, yeah, I think it’s just part of racing, and hopefully, we can close on a high these final three races.

“I will, as far as I know, be going to the spec that Max has in the last few races on the floor, floor-wise. So I’m going to do that spec for this weekend.”

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Perez said that, between the new floor and working to get on top of his brake balance discomfort, he is optimistic about turning things around – pointing out that the race in Brazil, which was ruined by a first lap spin, had shown signs of a turnaround in performance.

“I think it’s all part of it. We should be in a much better position than we were in Sao Paulo, for example,” he said.

“Sao Paulo looked a lot stronger than the results showed. So yeah, that makes me feel confident that and now going on to a different spec of floor as well. So I really hope we can be in the mix for this weekend.

“Last year we were quite strong, especially in the race so I think we are getting back into our front foot.

“Baku, for example, was quite strong. It has a lot of similarities to Baku. I do expect to be definitely in the fight for the victory, and that will be really important also for the Constructors’ Championship.”

But while Las Vegas may be somewhat similar to Baku in terms of circuit characteristics, Perez says he fully expects the “usual ones” to be at the front of the pack this weekend.

“I think Ferrari was very strong with the graining last year and, over one lap, I do expect them to be very, very competitive,” he said.

“And obviously, McLaren has been the team to beat this season, so I think they will be very strong.”

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