Sergio Perez makes Red Bull demand after latest awful qualifying at British GP

08 July 2023 , 18:50

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Sergio Perez with race engineer Hugh Bird (Image: Getty Images)

Sergio Perez is desperate for his team to fix the problem he blamed for his Q1 exit in British Grand Prix qualifying.

The Mexican is stuck in a rut of underwhelming qualifying results. At the five races since he qualified on pole in Miami in early May, he has failed to reach Q3 in each of them.

This time he struggled after a late red flag in Q1. Perez had just pitted for fresh soft tyres when Kevin Magnussen stopped on track with a car problem.

It meant he ended up sat at the pit lane exit for nine minutes before the session was resumed. By that point, any heat he had in those tyres had dissipated and he struggled to make an impact.

Most others improved, dropping him down to 16th and out of the session. Speaking to reporters including Mirror Sport, the Mexican bemoaned the red flag and the unpredictable weather for this latest disappointment.

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"The red flag lasted longer than we predicted initially, that didn't help the temperature of the tyre. It's just a shame to lose out because we had a great Friday and the race pace was looking really good. Starting from the back, it's going to be another race where we try to minimise the damage.

"In these conditions is where I struggle the most with the car. My issues with the car become more apparent in the changeable conditions. So I think it's something that, as a group, we need to get on top of and understand what we are able to do better. Simple as that."

Max Verstappen took pole and was handed his trophy by footballer Paulo Dybala (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Perez was bumped up to 15th on the grid after the session when Valtteri Bottas was disqualified. That's the same place at which he started the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend and finished third, so will still hold out hope that the podium is within reach.

Meanwhile, team-mate Max Verstappen put himself in the best position to extend his winning run to six races on Sunday. He denied Lando Norris what would have been a fairytale pole, while Oscar Piastri rounded off the top three in a dream session for McLaren.

"We did our laps and then, in Q3, I was quite surprised to see [Norris and Piastri] there, but it's great for McLaren as well to be here," said Verstappen. "From our side, very happy, of course, to be on pole!"

Daniel Moxon