Formula 1 News: Perez’s Qualifying Woes Continue as He Fails to Reach Q2 in Montreal
On the heels of announcing his new two-year deal with Red Bull on Tuesday, Sergio Perez suffered a disappointing Formula 1 qualifying session in Montreal, mirroring his exit in the opening stage of qualifying two weeks ago in Monaco. The Mexican driver qualified only 16th, failing to make it into Q2 after being edged out by Alex Albon.
This recent struggle in Saturday performances is reminiscent of last season’s trend, which started to dip around the Miami Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Helmut Marko attributes Perez’s woes to psychological factors, rather than any issues with the car. “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.”
Perez seemed poised to scrape into Q2 but spent the final moments of Q1 teetering on the brink of the drop zone, ultimately falling into it when Albon secured a late lap. The 2021 championship runner-up believes his problems in qualifying stem from a lack of comfort with the rear end of his RB20, particularly in the changeable conditions. This, in turn, affects his ability to load temperature into the tyres.
“It was a massive frustration. It was a session where everything reset with the weather. We just couldn’t get everything to work, especially the rear axle. I think it was a very strange session for a lot of cars out there,” Perez explained. “We did struggle quite a lot with the rear end, so I think we got to understand what the reason behind it was. I think the track being so green it really reset things up but I was struggling to put the temperature into the tyre and I think that was the main struggle.”
Despite his qualifying struggles, Perez remains confident that he can secure points in Sunday’s race. “We’ve got some bits to understand tomorrow and we are able to secure a couple of points, that will be a good result and then really just go from there.”
Stay tuned for more Formula 1 news, Formula 1 qualifying updates, and Formula 1 tyres insights as the Montreal Grand Prix unfolds.
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