Sergio Perez says he was facing issues under braking in F1 Canadian GP and struggled eventually to get past the two Ferrari drivers.
It was another low-key F1 race for Red Bull’s Perez in Canadian GP with a Q2 exit. He had another grand prix to claw back when teammate Max Verstappen was firm at the front. It was another race where he lost points in the 2023 world championship fight.
In fact, he has fallen into the traps of Fernando Alonso to save second in the standings if he can’t win the championship. His run in Canada seemed decent enough, even though he was a bit behind on Verstappen, he was still in the front end to challenge for the win.
But he struggled in the race to get past the Ferrari drivers and he faced issues under braking. “I feel like, I feel that there was a little bit more certainly, but we just didn’t have the pace,” said Perez. “We did struggle. I think we got hurt massively with the safety car that it came in the wrong moment for us.
“So, like it is not with us at the moment, but yeah, it’s how it is at the moment. Basically under braking. I think the ride hasn’t been great, so under braking I think was the biggest thing. And it is where I think we need to get on top of and make sure that we are able to figure out what’s happening and then come back strong,” summed up Perez.
The one-stop strategy was correct but he just didn’t have pace. They are still finding the root cause of the issues under braking despite fiddling with the tyres and even set-up. “It was not too bad,” said Perez. “I think we were hurt massively with the safety car, and given the track position we were in it made sense to stop at.
“Regarding the issues, not at the moment that we know. We did something with tyres, something with set up, a few bits that they need to understand exactly,” summed up Perez, who is now 69 points behind Verstappen and only nine ahead of Alonso.
Here’s Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso on iconic Top 3 in Canada
Here’s Max Verstappen on bird hit