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Perez: We thought we fixed it but we didn’t

Paul Velasco 2 min read

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Sergio Perez lamented a ‘fix’ to his Red Bull that went wrong, as he ran out of brakes during his first first run in qualifying for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, beaching his car and thus will start the race from stone last on the grid, while his teammate Max Verstappen topped the time sheets.

The veteran has not quite hit the sweetspot, Jeddah-style, all weekend in Melbourne, with zero laps in qualy highlighting the fact; Perez blamed it on an unnamed issue with the car.

Heading to an early shower, when Q3, front row, and even pole were on his agenda until fate decided otherwise, in the Albert Park TV pen, Perez lamented: “It was really bad, a terrible day.

“Already in FP3 we had this issue. We thought we fixed it but we didn’t so I really hope we are able to fix it come to the race or it will be very difficult to race like this.

“I don’t want to go too much into detail, I don’t think it is worth it for us. We have to work together as a team to overcome this problem. Minimising the damage will be really important,” added Perez who won last time out in Jeddah.

Perez is in the best car on the grid, and while he is expected to scythe his way through the field, that field is perhaps the closest in F1 history, and the street circuit is incident prone, in other words, despite a superior car, Sunday will not be a walk in the park for Checo.

Horner: Sergio had a horrible day

Red Bull boss Horner told reporters immediately after qualifying: “It started this morning with him late on the weighbridge. His first short run had an issue in qualifying. he never recovered from the FP3.

“The lap was never going to be a sequential lap, we had to check if there was something in the data and we’re are going through it currently as we speak.

“You saw him lock up and grab the brakes and ran wide during his lap. He drove wide. we had to try to ensure that if there is something it is not there. Confidence is crucial, yesterday he looked strong. then you end up pushing too hard and going into qualifying it’s not what he wanted,” explained Horner.

Ahead of Round 3 of the 2023 F1 World Championship, Perez is second in the standings, one point adrift of teammate Verstappen, the pair on a win apiece; Sunday marks the Mexican’s 238th Grand Prix start.