Qualifying embarrassment continues for Perez at British GP

An embarrassing qualifying effort at the British Grand Prix resulted in a shock Q1 exit for Sergio Perez, while his teammate conquered yet another pole position.

Perez was originally one of few drivers tipped to take the fight to Max Verstappen earlier this year, having started off the 2023 season with two wins in the first four races, however, since Monaco, the Mexican’s skill and luck have seemingly dropped off. 

Last night’s qualifying session around Silverstone Circuit was no exception, with Perez missing out on advancing to Q2 by a slim, but crucial 0.019 seconds.

His poor efforts yesterday mean that Perez has now missed out on a Q3 appearance for the last five weekends in a row.

Speaking with f1.com, Sergio Perez said that it “was quite disappointing”, having only set a lap time of 1:29.968.

“The red flag lasted a lot longer than we initially thought it would, so we lost some heat on the tyres.”

“We also struggled with the weather.”

The red flag prompted by a mechanical failure from Kevin Magnussen’s Haas prolonged beyond what Red Bull expected, seeing Perez waiting in the pit lane for an additional nine minutes. 

As the remaining three minutes on the clock ticked down, the loss of tyre temperature and unfavourable weather conditions saw Perez fail to put a strong lap together and fall into the elimination zone at the chequered flag.

However, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner sounded relatively hopeful speaking with f1.com.

“It was another great performance from Max, his 5th pole in a row.”

“Conversely, another tough quali for Checo but remaining confident for a good run [tonight] with plenty to race for,” Horner said. 

Despite having some support from Horner, this is not the performance expected of a driver given the machinery of the dominant RB19.

Taking a look at his previous 5 qualifying efforts, it’s no surprise that his seat would be called into question with an eager Daniel Ricciardo on the sidelines adding fuel to the fire. 

It all stems back to Monaco, with the Red Bull driver starting the historic race from last place after ending the session in the wall at Turn 1. 

The following two races in Spain and Canada left Perez starting from P11 and P12, while Verstappen again impressed on pole position. 

Last week, however, Perez put on a redeeming display of racing during the Sprint in Austria, taking the battle to the Championship leader before ending in P2.

Perez also started the Austrian Grand Prix from P15 and charged through the field to a podium finish, a run he’ll be hoping to recreate during tonight’s outing at Silverstone.

The Mexican driver is set to start the British Grand Prix from P15 despite qualifying in 16th, with Valterri Bottas’ disqualification relegating the Fin to the back of the grid.  

Logan Sargeant will be looking to defend from the #11 car off the line after showing pace across the weekend, while Yuki Tsunoda will have his sights set on getting the jump on Perez into Turn 1. 

With all the pressure on Perez to recover, he’ll begin his British GP charge at Midnight tonight, AEST.

Download the full F1 British Grand Prix event guide HERE with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles.

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