Sergio Perez needs a straightforward weekend, as Christian Horner pushes him to forget disastrous F1 Canadian GP run.
After the Monaco disaster, Red Bull’s Perez inked a new deal to see himself with the F1 team until the 2026 season. He came into Canadian GP with fresh mindset and not tensed about saving his seat and career for seasons beyond 2024.
But the tricky conditions continued to haunt him and he was knocked out of Q1 once again. The race didn’t go any better either. He had a tangle on Lap 1 against Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, and it was then a tough run ahead in the midfield.
He never looked like getting back into the points as smooth and in a bid to hurry, he eventually lost it at Turn 6 to hit the rear and limp back into the pits to retire. That move cost him and Red Bull as well, with the FIA stewards coming down hard on them.
While Red Bull were fined 25,000 euros for allowing Perez to return to the pits driving an unsafe car, the Mexican was handed a grid drop of three places that he will have to serve in Barcelona. The Mexican wants a straightforward weekend to get back into his mojo now.
“It was a difficult weekend,” said Perez to media. “First part of the race was compromised with the damage with Gasly. Second part of the race was looking a lot better. Third part of the race, we were just stuck there – there was only one line, we couldn’t get by. In the end, I was coming back and I ended up making a mistake in Turn 6, which was one of the most difficult corners, where a lot of drivers made mistakes.
“But, unfortunately, I was one of those few. I couldn’t control the car, I made a mistake. I think it’s time to regroup, put our heads down. It’s a long season to season, there is no doubt that I cannot be back to that level. I think just having a straightforward weekend [will help me].
“We have a car issue in qualifying which with these margins you can be knocked out in Q1 with very small margins. So just having a straightforward weekend. I think the pace is there, the confidence is there. I obviously want to take my time to analyse everything together with the team and make sure that we are able to come back stronger,” summed up Perez.
Horner, meanwhile, wants Perez to forget the 2024 Canadian GP and bounce back in Barcelona. The Brit noted that whenever the car behaves tricky, the Mexican takes a longer time to adjust, adapt and perform, which the team will have to work with him on.
“Checo just needs to forget Canada 2024 and turn up in Barcelona and bounce back,” said Horner to media. “We know he’s very capable of doing that, and I’m sure he’ll come back fighting hard in Barcelona. We were lucky Ferrari didn’t score any points. They could have taken a lot of points out of us in the constructors’, but we need him up there scoring, as he was in the first four races.
“I think it is combination of factors, he had issue in qualifying that contributed all to it. Plenty for him and the team to look at to get back into that window as we head back to Europe. I think he obviously struggles with…when the car isn’t behaving, he struggles more to adapt and it perhaps takes him longer and not having the running on Friday, he end up on the backfoot. So I think it is something that we look at collectively within to say ‘okay, lets come back stronger in Barcelona’.”
Here’s Max Verstappen, Christian Horner on Canadian GP win
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