Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner says that Sergio Perez’s struggles in the Emilia Romagna GP were “just a blip” and that the Mexican will return to form in Monaco.
Perez has had a generally stronger season thus far in 2024 than last year, but at Imola – where even Max Verstappen struggled to find the right set-up – he could manage only 11th place in qualifying.
The team took a gamble and he started on hard tyres and ran a long first stint that saw him re-passed by quicker cars that had pitted.
He eventually claimed eighth place after surviving a trip through a gravel trap.
“Our simulations today were saying before the race that P7 was potentially optimal,” said Horner when asked by this writer about Perez’s race.
“Nothing happened, no safety cars or anything like that. He had one trip through the gravel that cost him about six seconds. But I think that was about the maximum that he could get from that grid position today.
“I think it’s just a blip. He’s always gone well at Monaco. So we’ll see. It’s a 24-race calendar. He’s had a great start to the year, his approach has been very strong.
“He’s changed his approach a bit this year. And today’s result was dictated by yesterday’s qualifying.”
Perez admitted that it had been a tough afternoon on the harder tyre.
“I think we sort of knew that that was the best we could get,” he said. “We obviously knew that the hard was going to be very difficult initially. But we were hoping for a safety car at the right point, to potentially put us back in the fight.
“It was very difficult first stint, I think it was compromised a lot with the traffic initially, the traffic at the end, people coming through.
“And I also had a lock-up going into Turn 16 so I went straight, and lost quite a bit of time. I also picked up some damage. So yeah, just a very, very tough race.”
Perez admitted it wasn’t easy not to get caught up in fights with drivers coming back past him on fresher tyres.
“I wanted to lose as little time as possible,” he said. “And unfortunately, at the same time you are at the end of your stint, temperatures are dropping, and the grip is just very miserable at that point.”
Perez believes that his Imola struggles were related to the characteristics of the venue.
“I think it’s a bit circuit specific,” he said. “I think we’ve got to keep our heads down, and keep working. I’m happy that Max got the victory for the team.
“We see that the McLaren and Ferrari have done a step forward, so we just have to keep our heads down. The season is long, we need to keep maximising the opportunities.”
Regarding Monaco he said: “I think we expect a very strong McLaren and Ferrari. So it will be a strong challenge there.”
Adam Cooper F1 