Sergio Perez explains why Red Bull won't be as dominant in Jeddah as it was in Bahrain

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez revealed that the world champions might not be as dominant in Saudi Arabia this weekend as they were in Bahrain in the first race of the season.

The Austrian team blew away the field in Bahrain as they secured a 1-2 finish with Max Verstappen leading Perez and finished about 40 seconds ahead of third-placed Fernando Alonso.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, at the Saudi Arabian GP press conference, he said:

"Yeah, I think it's a very different circuit here. The requirements are very different, the degradation is not as severe as in Bahrain. We certainly believe that Ferrari is going to be very strong around this place, so certainly Astons, and Mercedes are going to be a lot closer to us because the requirements are very different here."

"It certainly gives me good confidence because I feel comfortable in the circuit" - Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez is known for his street-circuit prowess and even achieved his first pole position in the sport at Jeddah last season. He mentioned that he was feeling confident knowing that he went well last year on the streets of Saudi Arabia.

Perez said:

"It certainly gives me good confidence because I feel comfortable in the circuit. But every year it's a new challenge. We come here with different cars, different tires. So it's going to be different challenges. The track, it's a little bit different."

"I think that is the beauty of our sport, that it doesn't really matter what you've done here in the past. Every year, it's a new challenge. So yeah, I certainly enjoy a lot the circuit, I think it's a great challenge for all the drivers, especially on Saturday in Qualifying. So yeah, hopefully, we can get a good Quali because it's really important here."

Sergio Perez went on to state that he was looking forward to heading out on the track and repeating his pole position from last year this weekend, adding:

"Yes, certainly that will be my target, to try to be on pole and try to win the race. I think it's important. It's only the second race weekend, so we are in very fine margins. Bahrain was really close between us all. So yeah, looking forward to that."

Street circuits are probably Perez's best opportunity to really take the fight to his double-world champion teammate in 2023 and mount a title bid this season.