Sergio Perez says that the “system is wrong” as he blamed his Q2 elimination on being impeded by Alexander Albon in the final corner.
The Red Bull driver failed to reach the top ten shoot-out for the fourth consecutive race weekend in Austria after all three of his flying laps in Q2 were deleted by the stewards for exceeding track limits – the first two for the exit of turn nine and the final for running wide at turn ten.The three infringements left Perez with a slow cooldown lap, which took over two minutes, as his only legitimate time of the session, which leaves him 15th on the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. Speaking after the session, Perez blamed catching Alexander Albon’s Williams at the final corner for him running wide and having his third and final attempt deleted.
“On the way [during the session] we were a bit confused, but then once I got the feedback that it was on the way into turn 10, it was all clear,” Perez said.
“I was on a good lap, but then all of the sudden on my final lap, I found Albon and I just went straight. I could not stop. I think I lost a tenth or a bit more than that just by going straight, but the stewards wouldn’t consider that I was blocked.”
Perez said he feels that the FIA system should take into account when drivers catch traffic for whether they have their times deleted for exceeding track limits.
“There’s so many things I can control and unfortunately, this one, you’re closing a good lap and then all of the sudden you are blocked and you have a penalty,” he said. “I think the system is wrong.”
The stewards did not investigate any impeding by Albon.
While Perez has an opportunity to still take a strong result in Saturday’s sprint race, for which there is a separate qualifying session, he has a challenge ahead of him to climb through the field on Sunday.
“We will try,” he said. “It’s just frustrating that we don’t have a good system and we are not able to consider when these things happen.”
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Tommy Scragend
30th June 2023, 18:24
There’s something ironic about a driver known for his prowess on street circuits being unable to keep within the white lines. No doubt he’d have managed it just fine had there been a wall there.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
30th June 2023, 19:04
If Checo kept it on the racing surface, he’d be slower than his teammate.
Edvaldo
30th June 2023, 18:36
“King of the streets”…when Max has issues with his car, and nothing else.
Didn’t the same thing happened last year as well?
The guy can drive, but c’mon, this was unexcusable. Lucky for him a clean weekend, which will happen sooner or later, can warrant him an easy 2nd place, because Alonso won’t be making similar mistakes, even in a much inferior car.
David BR (@david-br)
30th June 2023, 18:37
“The system is wrong” says Perez as he blames someone else again for Q2 exit.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
30th June 2023, 18:40
I think he’s pretty much sealed his own fate with his performances over the last couple of months, most likely his last season in F1. Red Bull should go with someone like Hulkenberg for a couple of seasons, he’s consistent enough for a second driver sort of role.
NoelyNoel (@noelynoel)
30th June 2023, 18:46
“The stewards did not investigate any impeding by Albon” because there wasn’t any impeding by Albon, just mistakes by Perez.
I love Checo dearly but I’m afraid he’s lost the plot this year.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
30th June 2023, 18:49
Sergio is in one of the best places to lobby for a change in the Qualifying format, so maybe he should propose a better format to the FIA.
Every type of Qualifying system has advantages and disadvantages. The current type works better in changeable weather conditions. I guess the Stewards could simply add a penalty time, e.g. 2 seconds, to the lap time when a car goes off the track, but what if they go off more than once? Presumably they’d have to add multiple penalty times to the lap time. Adding a penalty time to a lap time would work in the Race too. At least with the current system once a driver goes off the track the Stewards don’t need to check the rest of the lap because that lap time has been decreed to be excluded from the final result.
Kribana (@krichelle)
30th June 2023, 18:59
Embarrassing.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
30th June 2023, 19:02
The Checo is slow.
SteveP
30th June 2023, 19:02
Even Max kept inside the lines enough to record a time.
In fact, there were 14 other drivers that managed that feat.
Jere (@jerejj)
30th June 2023, 19:03
No, all on him, as Albon was too far ahead on the road (only really getting caught on the S/F straight) to cause that big impact.
MichaelN
30th June 2023, 19:50
If it happens once, that’s unfortunate.
If it happens twice, that’s a bit odd.
But he had all three laps deleted. Every single one.
Come on, Pérez – your car is on pole.
baasbas
30th June 2023, 19:51
I’m just curious how the conspiracy theorists spin this one on RBR holding Perez back.
Esteban
30th June 2023, 21:47
He should be renamed as the “king of silly excuses”. He fails to mention that his first 2 flying laps on Q2 were botched by him alone and he wasn’t blocked by anyone. Not that he was blocked by Albon on his 3rd flying lap. Third tier driver.
Jackal
1st July 2023, 3:19
King of excuses.
Rom
1st July 2023, 5:54
Like I said before.
Bottas got thrown more slander for less, unable to match his teammate than what Perez is doing right now.
Horrendous.