Perez disappointed at losing key Red Bull asset

Sergio Perez has expressed his disappointment at losing one of Red Bull's key assets mid-way through the season.

After Nyck de Vries was ousted at AlphaTauri in favour of Daniel Ricciardo, it has meant that he no longer provides the team with feedback in the simulator over race weekends.

Simulator drivers typically put in hours after a practice session at their factory simulator to help with car setup during the weekend.

Now that Ricciardo is back as a full-time driver, that responsibility has been handed down to Liam Lawson midway through the season alongside his reserve driver role and Rudy van Buren.

Ricciardo did a great job in simulator

"I think he's done a great a great job for us," Perez told media, including RacingNews365.

"It's a bit of a shame that we end up losing him because he's obviously a very experienced driver that understands a lot of the car.

"We get on really well and he's been good for Red Bull."

Ricciardo conducted his last duties with the team during the Pirelli tyre test after the British Grand Prix, when he got back behind the wheel of an F1 car for the first time since the end of 2022.