Red Bull Advisor Helmut Marko Attributes Sergio Perez’s Struggles to Psychological Factors Ahead of Canadian Grand Prix
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has weighed in on Sergio Perez’s recent struggles, citing psychological factors as the primary cause of his woes. This comes after Perez suffered a disappointing Q1 exit at the Canadian Grand Prix, marking his second consecutive early elimination. Despite renewing his deal with the team, Perez failed to turn his fortunes around, struggling throughout the opening segment and eventually getting bumped down to 16th spot by Alex Albon’s Williams.
Perez’s struggles to extract pace from the RB20 have drawn comparisons to a similar slump last season, with the Mexican driver now absent from Q3 for the third consecutive event. However, Marko points to Max Verstappen’s remarkable qualifying performance, where he matched George Russell’s pole time to the thousandth, as evidence that the car is not the issue.
“It’s not the car, you can see that with Max. I think it’s more psychological,” Marko told ServusTV. “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.”
Perez, meanwhile, lamented his lack of rear grip on his Red Bull, which he felt was compromised during the final practice hour.
“It was a total disaster,” Perez admitted. “I just couldn’t get the grip in. Mainly the issue was the rear end, the rear axle. It felt a little bit worse.”
The Mexican driver also hinted that his tyre preparation might have been affected by venturing back to the pits with five minutes remaining, leaving him with only one lap to salvage his hopes.
“I think it was a very strange sensation for a lot of cars out there,” Perez pondered, referencing the unexpected Ferrari double elimination in Q2. “For us, I just couldn’t get the tyre switched on. It was taking a while to really switch on the tyre. It was a total disaster. I think when we went at the end, I just couldn’t get a proper lap in.”
As the Formula 1 standings continue to shift, Red Bull will be looking to regroup and find a solution to Perez’s struggles. With the next round of Formula 1 qualifying on the horizon, fans will be keeping a close eye on whether Perez can turn his fortunes around and get back on track.
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