Pit lane starts for Perez and Bottas after teams make changes to cars

Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas will start the Australian Grand Prix from the pit lane following work on their cars since qualifying yesterday.

The pair were due to share the back row of the grid for today’s race. Perez, who started the previous round in Jeddah from pole position, skidded into a gravel trap early in Q1 after being plagued by handling problems on his car during throughout practice on Saturday.

Team principal Christian Horner said yesterday the team “suspect an engine setting issue contributed to a lock-up that he had on his first lap in qualifying.” Red Bull have responded by fitting a new energy store and control electronics to Perez’s car for today’s race. Those are the third examples of each Perez has used this year, which puts him over the maximum of two allowed per season.

The team has also made changes to Perez’s suspension set-up. As the car has been modified under parc ferme conditions, Perez is required to start from the pits.

Similarly, Alfa Romeo made changes to Bottas’ suspension which also means he will have to start the race from the pits. He was surprised to end qualifying last of those who set times after Alfa Romeo brought new parts for their C43 this weekend.

“We seemed to lack pace,” said Bottas. “The upgrades we brought to Melbourne seem to be working as we expected, so there’s no denying we expected more from qualifying. This is, of course, not where we wanted to be, and there are definitely a lot of questions about this qualifying session.”

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