It was after Miami last season that Pérez’s season began to diverge from his teammate’s historic title run. When the calendar turned to the European tracks, Pérez began a summer-long run of mistakes here and there that cost him chances to share podiums with Verstappen. You could point to Pérez’s RB19 suspended by a crane during practice at Monaco as the point where the tone of his season changed.
Before Round 7 at Monaco, Pérez’s average starting position was 7.8, and his average finish was 4.5. After Monaco, though that average finish improved to 4.2, his average grid start ballooned to 8.3. In other words, he made himself work much harder for finishes worthy of the car beneath his feet.
I bring all this up because the 2024 Emilia-Romagna GP was the first weekend this year that brought that “Summer of 2023” Checo to mind. Both Red Bull drivers struggled with balance, grip and overall setup all weekend. But Verstappen delivered a pole position while Pérez didn’t make it out of Q2. Pérez lost time in the first two chicanes on his final push lap and qualified P11.
“The podium is a long way from that grid place, particularly with very fast McLarens and Ferraris,” Red Bull boss Christian Horner said on Saturday. “So, it’s going to be a tough race tomorrow.”
Indeed. Pérez started strong on hard tires but didn’t show as much fight with the Ferraris and McLarens as Verstappen did against Norris in the final laps (when he was on hards). As pit stops were sorted out, Norris, Piastri, and Carlos Sainz made quick work of the Red Bull as they charged to the front. Pérez finally pitted on Lap 38 and fought back to P8 (his worst result of the season) seven seconds behind George Russell ahead, who had stopped twice.
It all amounted to a frustrating weekend for Pérez. Imola is regarded as one of the most challenging circuits to overtake on (only behind Monaco), so it’s fair to say that the qualifying mistake left a lot of points on the table. As Norris and McLaren have shown in the previous two races, Red Bull’s margin for error in 2024 is much finer than it was last year. If another summer of waning confidence is ahead for Pérez, it could make the constructors’ championship interesting.
