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Sergio Perez needs a “software update” to match Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen and will have one eye on the returning Daniel Ricciardo this year, says former F1 driver David Coulthard.
Verstappen won his second F1 title in 2022 as Perez finished third and the season saw friction between them.
Eight-time grand prix winner Ricciardo is Red Bull’s third driver for 2023.
“Checo (Perez) will see that there is a real substitute driver there,” said Coulthard of the Australian’s return.
Verstappen won 15 races as he won his second championship, while Perez claimed two – on the streets of Monaco and Singapore.
There was also controversy at the end of the season when Verstappen, who had already won the title, was asked to move aside on track and give Perez a position in the penultimate race in Brazil but failed to do so as the Mexican challenged Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second in the championship.
Verstappen said after the race in Brazil that he had “reasons” for refusing to let Perez back ahead and that he was reacting to “something that happened in the past”, which has reported to have been in relation to Perez’s crash in qualifying in Monaco in May – a race he went on to win.
Perez eventually missed out on second place and ended up 104 points off Verstappen.
Coulthard, who raced for Red Bull in his final four seasons, said Verstappen is a “benchmark” and Mexico’s Perez’s F1 destiny is “in his own hands”.
“For Checo to look at how many victories Max had and how many he had, it’s not like he is just having to polish a few corners. This is a major rewrite, a software update,” he said.
“If you use the same ingredients in the cake you will get the the same cake. You need to change it if you want something different.
“He has access to the data of the world champion. He can see where he’s quicker, where he’s slower. Checo will be quicker in some areas. It’s just Max is putting it all together more often than not.
“All the knowledge is there for Checo to lift his performance. If he does then the world championship is there for him to put his hand on.
“If he doesn’t, then he will be another driver, like myself, that won a few grands prix.”
Coulthard won 13 races in 15 seasons in F1.
Ricciardo ‘trying to rebuild’
Ricciardo won six races for Red Bull before leaving for Renault in 2019, where both he and the team struggled to challenge for wins and podiums.
A move to McLaren in 2021 saw Ricciardo win in Monza, but he was largely outperformed by team-mate Lando Norris and low-key outings last season saw his contract terminated a year early as the British team opted to sign rookie Oscar Piastri for 2023.
Ricciardo, 33, returns to Red Bull as third driver and will assist the team with testing and simulation work as well as commercial activities.
“Daniel, not being where we knew he could be – he just didn’t look like Daniel of old so this is about him trying to rebuild,” Coulthard said.
“He has a great legacy with Red Bull and he left to go off and try and make it big elsewhere, that didn’t work so he has come back to the family.
“If he can get his mind back to what is was when he was having success, then Daniel has to have an opportunity to come back. If this opportunity doesn’t manifest itself then that’s probably his grand prix career wrapped up.”
Speaking before a Red Bull F1 showrun in Dublin on Sunday, Coulthard drew on his own experiences as a McLaren driver against double champion Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen, who went on to win the championship with Ferrari in 2007.
“Having been in a similar situation to Sergio where I was up against Mika and Kimi, you just have to leave no stone unturned,” Coulthard said.
“You do physical training but the only way he can improve his qualifying speed is in the car or in the simulator.
“In nine years at McLaren, I did every test and never missed a race, even when I felt terrible, even when I felt like I was going to be sick after testing, because I knew the minute I let the test driver get in the car it became an opportunity to show how good he was.
“If I don’t let him get in the car he can talk all day long. You have to defend your territory.”
