Perez angry with himself after shock Q1 exit as Marko blames psychological factor for the Mexican's result
Sergio Perez was left frustrated by his latest shock qualifying result after he failed to make the cut to Q2, and will therefore line up only in P16 on the grid at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Red Bull Racing has shown its faith in Sergio Perez by extending his contract for another two years ahead of this weekend's Montreal round. However, the Mexican continued to struggle for outright pace in yesterday's qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix, and will only start today's 70-lap race from P16.
His latest struggles come after he failed to progress into Q3 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix before failing to make the cut into Q2 in the qualifying session at the Monaco Grand Prix.
“In these conditions somehow, we weren’t able to switch on the rear axle, I couldn’t lean on it at all and I didn’t have any confidence at the time to push,' Perez started his debrief.
"Basically, I had no grip, I was sliding too much and that meant our qualifying was a total disaster. We need to look at it and understand the reason behind it, it was stepping away from me all the time. In hindsight we could have done a lot of different things but at the end of the day we lacked some pace, simple as that.
"There are some fundamental issues that we need to address, understand, and figure out, to make sure we are able to improve in the coming races. I am angry with myself; we are a Team and it is not an ideal time for us but we have full focus on tomorrow and hopefully we are able to save something and score some points.
"The weather can hopefully help us, it can make things unpredictable, and we will see what we can do with the strategy as well."
Speaking after qualifying on ServusTV, Red Bull Motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko confirmed that there were no technical issues with Sergio Perez's car. The Austrian claimed that the Mexican has been suffering from mental issues lately which has hindered his qualifying performances.
"It's not the car, you can see that with Max. I think it's more psychological. It was close, and when the conditions change, he finds it much more difficult.
"But the fact that it's already the third time (not in Q3) is painful," commented the Austrian.
