Sergio Perez has acknowledged his "need to perform" at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which kicks of a critical triple-header for the Red Bull driver. The 34-year-old is under considerable pressure to save not only his seat with the Milton Keynes squad but also his F1 career. His underwhelming performances throughout much of the season has left him at risk of being shown the door at the end of the year, despite holding a contract through 2025. If he cannot improve his form and show he can more adequately support Max Verstappen next term, the reigning constructors' champions may opt to replace him with either Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda - with Franco Colapinto remaining an outside bet. After coming tantalisingly close to ending his poor run of results at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September, where he collided with Carlos Sainz on the penultimate lap, Perez has not finished inside the top five since the Miami Grand Prix, in early May. The so-called king of street circuits will need to lean on his perceived speciality under the intensity of the lights in Las Vegas. "It’s a track I enjoy, I like the street circuit experience, with the walls in tight and you cannot compare to driving down the Strip or towards the Sphere towering over you," the six-time grand prix winner said. "While it’s a spectacle of a race, for everyone attending and watching back home, it’s one where I know I need to perform and maximise this car and my own performance." "I’ve been working with the team and feel São Paulo was much more competitive than we where able to show."
The Mexican driver finished on the podium at last season's round in Nevada, but was pipped to second position by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who overtook him on the last proper corner of the 50-lap race. It is a performance he will seek to replicate at an event with fewer unknowns that 12 months ago. "This race last year was such an unknown, it was a brand new race, it was a new surface to us all and we were in temperatures we never usually race in," Perez reflected. "We barely had any data in 2023, so this year we are approaching this street circuit with a lot more information and understanding."
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