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Perez made a strong start to his second season with Red Bull in 2022, taking pole in Saudi Arabia and victory in Monaco to leave him 15 points off Verstappen after the opening seven races.
But the Mexican’s form took a dip ahead of the summer break as he conceded the development of the RB18 car had left him feeling less comfortable with the car.
Perez rallied with his second win of the year in Singapore and further podiums in Japan, Mexico and Abu Dhabi to close out the season, although it was not quite enough to beat Charles Leclerc in the fight for third in the standings.
Reflecting on his season in Friday’s FIA Champions press conference at the end-of-year prize giving, Perez explained how he bounced back from early reliability struggles and the rough patch mid-year.
“It started very difficultly wi …