Perez's Key Weakness Compared To Verstappen Highlighted By Marko

Saturday, 15 June 2024 at 18:00

Red Bull's Helmut Marko outlined after the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix what makes Sergio Perez struggle.

The ninth round of the season at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal was yet another horrible weekend (as Christian Horner named it) for Red Bull Racing F1 driver Sergio Perez.

The Mexican driver struggled through all the practice sessions, then failed to get out of Q1 in qualifying, and even crashed out during the Grand Prix on Sunday.

Not only did he take out zero points from the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, but Checo also received a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Barcelona.

But where did it all go wrong for the 34-year-old? Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko wrote in his column for Speedweek.com:

"Sergio Perez had a difficult qualifying in Canada, as he did in Monaco before. He struggles when the conditions change, as he did recently in Montreal."

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The track conditions changed every second during the rain-affected race weekend in Canada, so it was about constant adaptation for every single driver. According to Marko, that is exactly what made it so challenging for the Mexican driver.

"It takes him too long to get on time. In the first practice session, he was one second behind Max; this gap is too big to make up by qualifying. We have seen this in the past."

Can Red Bull protect their lead in the Championship?

Red Bull aims to win both Championship titles this season, but Perez's deteriorating performance shown throughout the last three weekends might cause complications.

The Mexican driver has scored a mere 4 points in the last three weekends. Rivals are starting to catch up in terms of performance, making it challenging for Checo to consistently score points.

However, there is at least one positive: the three teams that are catching up (Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari) are also snatching points from each other, which makes it very hard for them to catch Red Bull in the Championship standings. Marko added:

"This situation is a great advantage for us, that the pursuers are constantly taking turns. We don't have one opponent, but three, who are snatching points from each other. I hope it stays that way."