Serio Perez, Red Bull, Monza, 2023

Perez went into qualifying “blind” after final practice problem

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In the round-up: Sergio Perez says his qualifying performance was compromised by his power unit problem in final practice.

In brief

Perez went into qualifying “blind”

Perez believes he was unable to show his car’s maximum potential in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix after his final practice was cut short due to a power unit leak. The Red Bull driver qualified fifth, three tenths of a second behind team mate Max Verstappen, after he was unable to use the soft compound in practice,

“Considering the situation missing FP3, basically going blind, I didn’t run new tyres today before qualifying,” he said. “it wasn’t ideal.

“We had a lot of pace yesterday [Friday]. I think [Friday] was looking great but unfortunately we didn’t get to show what we were able to do.”

Vesti going “full attack” after sprint race win

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Frederik Vesti says he is in “full attack” for the rest of the Formula 2 season after claiming his fifth victory of the year.

The Mercedes junior won yesterday’s sprint race at Monza. That reduced his championship deficit to Theo Pourchaire to nine points going into today’s feature race, which the Sauber junior will start from pole position. Yesterday’s win ended a run of three races without a point for Vesti, during which time he lost the championship lead.

“It’s all about confidence, it’s all about building a rhythm,” said Vesti, who starts eighth today. “My rhythm has been a bit broken since Spa and Zandvoort, so obviously that has been something to deal with.

“But coming back like this definitely gives the confidence I need both for tomorrow and into Abu Dhabi. I’ve not given up that’s for sure and I’m ready to full attack tomorrow and give my everything.”

Browning disqualified after gaining 22 places

Luke Browning was disqualified from the Formula 3 sprint race in Monza for breaching the technical regulations.

The Williams junior driver rose from 27th on the grid to cross the line in fifth, but was disqualified following a post-race inspection on his Hitech-run car. Scrutineers said the “lowest point of the side floor fin on the right side of the car was found to exceed the limits”, leading to his disqualification.

The stewards also gave Leonardo Fornaroli, who had finished sixth, a post-race five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits on four separate occasions.

Both penalties mean Oliver Goethe, Gabriele Mini and Christian Mansell all move up two positions into fifth, sixth and seventh, with Fornaroli classified in eighth. Nikola Tsolov and Rafael Villagomez are now classified as ninth and tenth following Browning’s disqualification.

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Comment of the day

Spoiler alert – Carlos Sainz Jnr may have put Ferrari on pole, but Ben has already revealed the result of the Italian Grand Prix…

I’m a time traveller and Max still dominates “tomorrow”. The Red Bull takes the lead on lap three and wins by 21 seconds. Quote me on this tomorrow!
Ben

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Tim C!

Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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5 comments on “Perez went into qualifying “blind” after final practice problem”

  1. Profile Photo

    SteveR (@stever)
    3rd September 2023, 1:18

    re Perez; the excuses are getting old…..

  2. Profile Photo

    Jere (@jerejj)
    3rd September 2023, 4:50

    Sure.

    COTD: The most likely outcome with the minor difference that I predict the lead-taking to occur on the opening lap.

    1. Profile Photo

      Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
      3rd September 2023, 8:08

      I’m expecting it to be by turn one to be honest :/

      1. Profile Photo

        F1 frog (@f1frog)
        3rd September 2023, 8:42

        But why take a risk on the opening lap when you can just wait for DRS to be enabled and then breeze past on the straight on lap four?

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          bosyber (@bosyber)
          3rd September 2023, 8:58

          Seems the more likely scenario indeed, apart from a bad start by Sainz that is @f1frog, @jerejj and @nullapax

Comments are closed.