Sergio Perez tore into the performance of his RB20 after a disappointing finish at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Mexican was furious with the speed of the car after he finished in seventh place at the Red Bull Ring.
Perez’s frustrations completely boiled over after he was informed of where he finished after crossing the line. His performance summed up Red Bull’s troubles as Max Verstappen also turned in one of his worst performances of the season, finishing in fifth after being handed a ten-second penalty for colliding with Lando Norris.
The McLaren driver was forced to retire, but George Russell moved closer towards Verstappen at the top by winning in Spielberg. While Red Bull’s rivals were celebrating, Perez was unleashing a tirade against his team.
An exasperated Perez was heard exclaiming: “F! I cannot believe that we’re this slow. This is too much,” reports the Mirror.
Compounding the car’s issues, Perez also suffered from damage to the vehicle’s left side, which significantly impacted his race performance. When asked about what happened, Perez said: “I think it was at the start of the race, with Piastri, at turn four.”
He lamented the extensive damage, which threw off the car’s balance and prevented him from finding a consistent racing rhythm. Despite initial pace similar to his rivals, the damage proved too substantial for Perez to overcome.
He added: “I don’t know exactly how much downforce we were losing, but when you look at it, it’s a very sensitive part and I had no pace at all, in turn three I couldn’t get any traction at all. The fight with (Nico) Hulkenberg at the end was difficult, difficult to pass him.”
Adding to his woes, Perez received a penalty for speeding in the pit lane, an error he attributed to accidentally leaving his speed limiter on. He added: “I didn’t realise the speed limiter was on, and I pushed it twice. I knew that problem was coming.”
Asked to assess his tyre performance, he admitted: “Difficult to say on my side, but with such a damaged car there wasn’t much to do today, any tyre would suffer and I couldn’t keep it at the ideal temperature.”
This latest setback means Perez has now gone nine races without a podium finish, a disappointing run that stretches back to the Chinese GP in April. Despite this, the Mexican was handed a contract extension with Red Bull until 2026 earlier this month.
Currently sitting fifth in the driver standings, Perez faces a battle to hold onto his position as the likes of Piastri, Russell and Lewis Hamilton all sit within striking distance.
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