Perez: “It was a total disaster”

Hope was short-lived. Sergio Perez seemed to have found an excellent pace during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, fighting for a fifth podium this season before his accident with Carlos Sainz. Unfortunately, the Mexican did not have a good time in Singapore, on a circuit where he has excelled in the past, having won the race in 2022. For Pérez, his weekend was a total disaster, starting with disappointing qualifications.

A poor starting position on the grid that spoiled his race

Despite an interesting start to the weekend on a track that doesn’t seem to suit Red Bull (Pérez finished eighth in the second free practice session, ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen who was only fifteenth in this session), the machine then jammed throughout the race. In the third free practice session, he finished in a worrying fifteenth place, 1.8 seconds behind the leader Lando Norris. During the qualifications, unfortunately, no solutions were found from the side of the former Racing Point driver. Eliminated as early as the second part of the qualifications, the Mexican revealed having experienced a nightmare with tires that were not working and a lack of balance still glaring on his Red Bull.

« It’s a real nightmare. I made good progress in Q1, but then in Q2, something strange happened with the tires. I couldn’t get them into the right window immediately, especially the rear tires. I struggled a lot with that, and it was so difficult that even a small touch on the car, on the balance, can make a huge difference and unfortunately, we are eliminated.
» On a circuit where it is often difficult to overtake, Pérez expected a particularly complicated race, and his comments proved to be accurate. Despite a good start where he gained three positions to settle in tenth place, he was unable to do better and finished the Grand Prix in the same position, a result insufficient for the Austrian team in the quest for the constructors’ title. At the finish, the former McLaren driver lamented the strategy deployed by his team, similar to that of the other drivers ahead of him, which prevented him from gaining positions.

A track where overtaking is difficult

« We had a very good first lap, but unfortunately, we did not take advantage of it, and Carlos did the undercut to us. It was frustrating, and I think we lacked a bit on the strategy side », explained the Mexican driver, dismayed by his result despite a good first lap. He also pointed out that this bad strategy led him to stay behind drivers like Hülkenberg or Colapinto, who had the same tires as him and that he could not overtake, which ruined his chances of getting a good result on Sunday.

« Given the difficulty of overtaking today, we really had to be a bit more ahead, and it was really difficult to stay behind Nico – it was a total disaster to be stuck behind him throughout the race. It was quite painful. It was really a shame, after overtaking three cars at the start, the race became difficult. We had a good first lap, I climbed back to tenth place, and that’s where we finished. So it’s really a shame, considering that. » The Mexican driver, who has only scored four points in the last three races, hopes for a rebound in the next Grand Prix in Austin, a more traditional circuit that should better suit the Red Bull.

« It’s a pity that we qualified so far, and we know what we did wrong – so we have to return to Austin, because the pace should be much better on a standard circuit. » Last season, he finished fourth in the Grand Prix after starting from ninth place. The Mexican therefore wants to do better than in 2023 and help the Milton Keynes team in their quest for both world titles at the end of the season.