Sergio Perez appears puzzled as he stands in the Red Bull garage.
Failing to make it out of Q1 in Montreal, and retiring from the Canadian Grand Prix, Helmut Marko says it’s not the car causing Sergio Perez’s problems, it is “more psychological”.
Perez had a strong beginning to this year’s championship, finishing as the runner-up to Max Verstappen in three of the first four races. However, in the last five Grands Prix, he has only managed to secure a single top three result.
Helmut Marko points the finger after Sergio Perez’s Canadian woes
However, his qualifying performance is a major worry as the driver has failed to participate in the pole position shoot-out for the past three qualifying sessions. In fact, during the last two sessions in Monaco and Montreal, he couldn’t even advance from Q1, finishing in P16 on both occasions.
The Mexican driver, fresh from signing a new two-year extension with Red Bull, called his latest qualifying a “total disaster” and blamed his RB20.
“He mentioned that the crucial aspect was to activate the rear,” he stated. “I found maneuvering the rear axle quite challenging.” “Consequently, I suffered the consequences.”
Essentially, I lacked proper control and was excessively sliding, leading to a disastrous qualifying session.
His weekend took a turn for the worse when he suffered a spin-off on Lap 53 during Sunday’s race, resulting in damage to his rear wing. Despite managing to make it back to the pit lane, he ultimately retired from the race.
After the stewards determined that he had driven with a “significantly damaged car” during the rest of that lap, shedding numerous carbon fibre parts on his way back to the pits, he received a three-place grid penalty for the upcoming race in Spain.
Red Bull was fined €25,000 after the stewards disclosed that the team admitted during the hearing that they had instructed the driver to return the car to the pits in an attempt to prevent a Safety Car scenario.
The Stewards have concluded that, in addition to imposing a financial penalty on the team, it is imperative to impose a sporting penalty as well, given the safety concerns arising from the incident.
In stark opposition to Perez’s hardships, Max Verstappen’s achievements were remarkable. During qualifying, the Dutchman secured second place, equalling George Russell’s pole position time. He completed his lap shortly after the Mercedes driver. Verstappen then proceeded to triumph in the Grand Prix, claiming his sixth victory of the season.
Marko firmly believes that the problem lies not with the car, but with Perez’s mindset.
“It’s not the car, you can see that with Max. I think it’s more psychological,” he told ServusTV. “When the conditions change, he finds it much more difficult. But the fact that it’s already the third time is painful.”
The Red Bull team-mates 2024 head-to-head stats
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Regarding Perez, he raised his hand following his DNF and acknowledged that it was his own “error”.
Perez admitted, “I made an error entering Turn 6 by accidentally hitting the wet spot. Once that happened, it was essentially game over, and unfortunately, that’s precisely what occurred.”
“It was a challenging weekend, but I’m confident that we have a long season ahead of us and will soon regain the excellent form we displayed earlier.”
Perez’s association with a psychologist commenced last season in response to his crash at Monaco, which subsequently resulted in a significant decline in his qualifying performance.
“I believe that after Monaco, I definitely experienced a loss of confidence,” he shared with the media, including PlanetF1.com. “The manner in which I crashed affected my trust in the car, setting me back a bit.”
“I am actively engaged with my psychologist, focusing on personal growth.”
After making a comeback in the Hungarian GP qualifying and securing a spot in the top ten, Perez went on to finish the season in second place, trailing Verstappen.
However, this year he finds himself in P5 with 107 points on the scoreboard. He is currently trailing Verstappen, who remains in the lead of the standings as he pursues his fourth consecutive World title, by a margin of 87 points.
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