Sergio Perez Bemoans Anticlimactic End to Canadian GP as Red Bull’s Reliability Concerns Return

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez weekend in Canada came to an abrupt stop on Sunday as he was forced to retire with an issue. Struggling with the balance of the car the entire weekend, Perez couldn’t get the car to dial in as he would have liked during qualifying. Through the practice sessions, he seemed to be on the back foot when compared to his teammate, Max Verstappen. 

He then crashed out during qualifying, and that put him in P13 for the race. Sergio was making good progress throughout the race up until the incident on lap nine.

Starting among the mid-field teams, the Mexican had it all to prove and score points for the team. He made an amazing start and climbed up to the tenth position. However, on lap nine, his car started producing a weird sound and refused to up-shift gears. Coming out of turn seven and the car going slowly, Perez said, “I lost the engine”. 

He was then advised to pull by a marshal post so that the car could be recovered safely. This prompted the Virtual Safety Car to be deployed. In the post-race interview, Checo gave an idea of what happened and summed up his weekend in a few words. 

Speaking to Formula 1 journalist, Lawrence Barretto, the Red Bull driver looked disappointed as to how the race had turned out. When asked what the problem was, Sergio replied, “Gearbox issue. Out of turn seven, I just lose the drive.” 

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When asked to sum up his weekend, Sergio replied, “No, it’s been a weekend to forget”. 

Sergio Perez’s qualifying session and what it means for the championship

It seems like the three-time Grand Prix winner’s woes started out in qualifying when he crashed out in Q2. Owing up to the team for making the mistake, he said to Sky Sports, “A mistake from my side, so I am very sorry for my team. I let them down today, unfortunately. I’m going to be thinking already for tomorrow and hopefully I am able to recover and get into strong points. 

It was really a shame that Perez could not keep his promise to the team. Since the start of 2022, Sergio has been pumping in some strong performances, earning him a contract extension. 

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Sergio Perez currently sits forty-six points behind his teammate in the driver’s standings. Can he turn things around next time at Silverstone and close the gap?