Sergio Perez faced another disappointing qualifying session in Canada as he secured a lowly 12th position on the grid, setting up a challenging race day for the Red Bull driver.
Perez has now failed to reach Q3 in the past three rounds, following his pole position in Miami. His struggles continued with a Q1 crash in Monaco, which saw him start from the back of the grid in 20th place. In Spain, he was eliminated in Q2 and started from 11th position. The trend persisted in Montreal, where Perez again failed to progress beyond Q2.
Reflecting on his qualifying performance, Perez expressed his frustration with the difficulty he faced in completing a lap on the soft tires during the transitional conditions of a damp track. Similar challenges affected Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who also failed to advance.
“It didn’t work out,” Perez remarked, acknowledging the timing issues. “When we switched to slicks, it started raining. I needed a lap to bring the tire into the right temperature range, but it started raining, and we switched back to intermediates. It was all a bit late to get that lap in.”
Looking ahead to the race, Perez acknowledged the challenges of overtaking on the circuit but remained determined to make progress through the field. Despite the setback, he drew inspiration from his previous race in Barcelona, where he climbed from 11th to finish in a strong fourth position.
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner expressed his frustration over Perez’s qualifying struggles but remained optimistic about his chances in the race. Horner highlighted the overtaking opportunities offered by the Montreal circuit and emphasized Perez’s racing skills and the competitiveness of the Red Bull car.
While Perez aims to recover from his compromised qualifying session, Red Bull seeks to maintain its perfect victory record this season. Max Verstappen has secured five wins (Bahrain, Australia, Miami, Monaco, and Spain), while Perez has celebrated two victories (Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan).
