F1 News: Red Bull Chief Reveals What Went Wrong With Sergio Perez's Car in Qatar

Alex Harrington | Dec 1, 2024

Oct 19, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez (11) of Team Mexico speaks to the crowd during a fan forum before the Sprint Race in the 2024 Formula One US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Sergio Perez faced a challenging weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix, crashing out of Sunday's race due to a technical malfunction in his Red Bull car. The issue, specifically a clutch failure, thwarted his chances of a commendable finish and added another layer of complexity to an already challenging season for the Mexican driver.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner shed further light on the situation by yet again confirming his continued support for Perez. While acknowledging the challenging year Perez has had, he reaffirmed the team's commitment to supporting him until the end of the season in Abu Dhabi. Amid the speculation surrounding Perez's position within the team, Horner's comments suggest a reevaluation after the finale, reflecting the uncertainty of Perez's future with the Milton Keynes outfit.

"Checo has had a very tough year. The points tables are what they are.

"We're very much focused on really supporting him to the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi," told the press. "It's not an enjoyable situation for Checo to be in this position with speculation every week. He's old enough and wise enough to know what the situation is. Let's see where we are after Abu Dhabi."

Perez retired from the race due to a clutch failure that took place after spinning under the safety car. Preliminary investigations suggest that excessive heat, caused by the spin and attempts to recover, compromised the clutch. Reflecting on the event, Horner noted, "We're just investigating the exact failure, but it looks like he spun the car, and as he's dropped the clutch, the clutch has had too much temperature go through it."

This mechanical setback is one of many struggles the driver has had this season, with him consistently failing to qualify well recently.

During the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, Perez also found himself starting the Sprint race from the pit lane, alongside Franco Colapinto. This was due to changes made under parc fermé conditions but brought on by a poor qualifying result. Perez was slow off the mark at the green light, allowing Colapinto to overtake. According to the driver, this was so he could drive in clean air, allowing him to collect data for the team.

Horner backed up his statement.

"We sent him to the end of the pit lane seven minutes ahead of Colapinto for a reason. Checo has contributed a huge amount to this team in the four years that he's been here."

He has played a crucial role in Red Bull's successes, including aiding in Max Verstappen's 2021 World Championship victory and the team's Constructors' titles in 2022 and 2023. Horner continued, "Checo has had some outstanding performances in races like Singapore, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia."

Horner is hoping for a strong finish to the season, with all efforts focused on extracting the best possible performance. "We've got one more race this year, so we'll throw everything at it. Hopefully, he can have a strong race to end the season in Abu Dhabi.

"There's no more races then." The lack of certainty fuels speculation about potential changes in the driver lineup, with young talent like Liam Lawson being considered for a seat in the future.