Home hero Sergio Perez slumped to a disastrous Q1 exit in qualifying for the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix thanks to persistent brake issues with his Red Bull RB20.
A lot was riding on Perez in Mexico City on Saturday, but he just couldn’t deliver in front of a frenetically packed home crowd.
The Red Bull driver finished 18th and headed to talk to select media including Motorsport Week earlier than he would have liked.
Perez explained that he couldn’t get the Red Bull stopped to sufficiently navigate the complex turns at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
“I’ve been struggling quite a bit with braking,” a downbeat Perez said on Saturday afternoon.
“Every time I try to brake and attack the braking, I just put too much energy through the tyres, and that makes it very tricky for me to stop the car.”
Perez explained further that the issue has been plaguing him “for the last three races,” and the results back that up.
The Mexican qualified 10th for the United States GP and 13th in Singapore the round prior.
“I cannot stop the car,” he exclaimed. “I’m having to modulate quite a lot my braking, and that’s something we can see in the data, but we are not able to fix it at the moment.
“Given that it’s all surface sensitivity here [in Mexico], it makes it a lot harder.”
Perez reflects on ‘very disappointing’ Mexico City GP qualifying
A year on from his Lap 1 DNF in front of his home fans in an overzealous Turn 1 manoeuvre on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Perez desperately needed to make amends this weekend.
With his Red Bull career hanging in the balance, Perez said on Thursday that although he had no “regrets” from last year, he wanted “to give everything to these people because the amount of support I get here, it’s pretty insane.”
Sadly, on a circuit with limited overtaking opportunities and issues that aren’t limited to qualifying alone, Perez is looking at a pointless return for Sunday’s GP.
“It’s going to be harder [on Sunday], because [the brake issue] is also present there in the long runs,” he explained.
“I will try everything, I will try and see what we are able to do with the team, and see what solutions we are able to find.
“It’s obviously very disappointing. It’s a grand prix I want to do really well, it’s this one. Unfortunately, it’s been really difficult and tricky, this event.”
With little to gain from 18th on the grid, Perez was asked whether it was worth ripping up his RB20, making changes and starting from the back of the grid.
“We will discuss all the options,” Perez replied.
“It probably means, we are also very tight on parts that we have available. We don’t have the spec of floor that we would like to go onto. I don’t know, we will discuss for sure with the team.”
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