Perez reveals 'aggressive' reason for deficit to Verstappen

Sergio Perez revealed the main reason for his 22-second deficit to Max Verstappen during the Belgian Grand Prix. The Mexican struggled to match his teammate throughout the weekend after Verstappen managed to win despite starting sixth after taking a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change. Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Perez gave the main reason for the lack of pace: "We were too aggressive with the car setup, not having any practice. So it was important just to make sure we brought the car home. "Especially on that second stint, he pulled a massive gap and then I went off into Turn 11 and then the gap got bigger."

Summer break will enable Perez to regroup

With Verstappen now 125 points ahead of Perez in the Drivers' Championship, who is under threat from Fernando Alonso in P3. It will be a difficult mountain to climb for the Mexican if his teammate does not suffer any misfortunes in the second half. Perez will be utilising the summer break to focus on the large performance gap to Verstappen. "We have this summer break to make sure we got on we've got on top of things," he said. "Hopefully, we are able to find some some bits that can bring us [back] to the form we have earlier in the season."