Perez looking to “learn” from Verstappen as he targets 2024 F1 title

Perez finished a distant second-place in the F1 2023 drivers’ championship, a whopping 290 points behind Verstappen.

The Mexican did start the year strongly, winning two of the opening four races, and looked like he could potentially mount a title bid.

However, after the Miami Grand Prix, Perez’s season fell apart, struggling to make it into Q3 as Verstappen went on a 10-race winning streak.

Perez did recover his form slightly in the final part of the year, holding off Lewis Hamilton to secure his career-best finish in the standings.

“That’s the main target for me,” Perez said. “I’ve already finished second, my main interest is to do one better.

“I’m aware of the challenge that it is. We’ve got to really take this winter time to try to start the season on a high and be able to maintain that level of consistency throughout the season.”

Perez openly admitted he’s keen to learn what Verstappen does differently as he looks to go one better in 2024.

“Our relationship is really good,” Perez added. “I think the whole engineering, when we are in all those briefings through so many races, I think it’s been good. We’ve been pushing at times in different directions, but at the same time we’ve [often] been strongly asking for the same stuff. So that also has been positive for the team.

“Definitely there are things that you learn from him. I think I have the best reference out there because he was the one who was so competitive.

“So I think there’s no harm in looking at what he’s doing, how he’s doing it and trying to learn and improve, see what works for you that he’s doing differently to you. 

“I think I’ve always had a very open approach and I think it’s something that works well.”