Sergio Perez Blames RB20 Trait For Red Bull's Poor Qualifying Results - 'Difficult To Have Progression'

Saajan Jogia | Aug 31, 2024

19th placed qualifier Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing walks in the Pitlane during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 06, 2024 in Northampton, England. / Getty Images

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez blamed the RB20's balance problem that caused him to qualify eighth, while his teammate Max Verstappen qualified one place higher in seventh. Explaining the situation, the Mexican driver revealed that the car was not good enough to make considerable gains in lap times.

The Milton Keynes outfit has faced challenges with its title contender since introducing mid-season upgrades. Although intended to boost performance, these upgrades disrupted the car's balance, resulting in poor handling for the drivers.

Perez has been working hard to recover from his mid-season slump, which widened the points gap between him and Verstappen in the Drivers' Standings. Although team principal Christian Horner confirmed his seat during the summer break, the 34-year-old now faces a tough challenge in his quest to bounce back, as the RB20's limitations hinder his efforts.

Verstappen has also been facing the brunt due to a drop in the car's performance, allowing McLaren's Lando Norris to pass him on Lap 18 of the Dutch Grand Prix and cross the finish line first with a massive difference of 23 seconds.

As Red Bull looks for solutions to the problem plaguing its car, Perez explains the problem that prevented him from gaining considerable time during the Italian Grand Prix qualifying. He told the media:

"At the moment, the disconnection in the balance that we are facing is the main issue.

"We can get some competitive laps at times, but it's difficult to have progression.

"Hopefully, the car can be more connected tomorrow and have stronger race pace tomorrow."

Norris set a blisteringly fast time of 1:19.327 in Q3 to secure pole position for Sunday's race at Monza. If the trend were to continue, it wouldn't be long before Mclaren overtakes Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship, considering the current gap of 30 points.

Verstappen, on the other hand, revealed that the car was undrivable during qualifying, causing him to lose considerable lap time. He told Sky Sports F1:

"The car is very difficult to drive and find a good balance. If you have one issue and try to fix that, then there is another issue.

"It's not very driveable, let's put it like that. Q2 was not too bad Q3 felt very bad again - I had a lot of understeer on both tyres.

"I lost a lot of lap time, I couldn't really push the tyres, so struggling a lot with that for a reason I can't understand.

"The long runs were not very promising. When you are not balanced, everything becomes difficult in the race.

"The last few races have not been great so we need to turn it around and be competitive."