Perez was unable to maintain his position ahead of a Haas car in the Austrian Grand Prix, finishing in seventh place.
Red Bull revealed that significant damage to the sidepod, resulting from a collision with Oscar Piastri, contributed to Sergio Perez’s seventh-place finish in the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Perez’s ongoing difficulties continued at the Red Bull Ring last weekend, as he qualified over eight tenths of a second behind his teammate Max Verstappen, who secured pole position.
Despite Verstappen suffering a late puncture after contact with Lando Norris while leading the race, the Dutchman managed to finish as the highest-placed Red Bull driver in fifth position.
However, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner revealed that Perez was struggling with a damaged RB20 car, which prevented him from overtaking Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas on the final lap.
Horner explained that Perez, who has scored 12 points in five races, faced a significant disadvantage compared to other cars due to a substantial opening in his sidepod.
“Checo, I mean, again, it was a challenging race for him,” said Horner. “He had a significant collision on the first lap with Lando [Piastri, sic.].
“He had a big opening in the sidepod, resulting in a straight-line speed loss similar to an aerodynamic brake.
“As a result, he struggled with straight-line speed. It’s difficult to evaluate Checo’s race due to the damage he suffered.”
When asked for an exact estimate of the time Perez was losing due to the damage, Horner replied, “I don’t have the exact numbers.
“All I know is that he had a significant opening, and the data indicated a substantial loss because of it.”
Perez suspects that the damage may have occurred due to contact with Piastri’s McLaren at Turn 4 on the first lap, although he was lucky to avoid contact earlier at the first corner.
Meanwhile, the Mexican driver also expressed frustration for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane, resulting in a five-second penalty that left him behind Hulkenberg’s Haas on the track.
“There were extensive damages to the sidepod,” said Perez. “I had a slight contact with Piastri at Turn 4, so it may have come from there.
“It was a shame because we had a good start, but after that, the car simply didn’t perform – there was nothing I could do, it was unbalanced.
“Furthermore, making a mistake by exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane was just a disastrous race that started well.
“But, with such a lack of pace and struggling around, there was no hope of fighting against other drivers.”
