Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner says that Sergio Perez endured a “horrible day” at the wheel of the RB19 after he exited qualifying in Q1.
In the early stages of the session, Perez locked up into Turn 3 and became beached in the gravel.
The Mexican driver was forced to retire from the session and will take the start of the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday from the back of the grid.
Perez’s issues were apparent in FP3 on Saturday morning as he struggled in the braking zones.
The problem carried over to the crucial qualifying hour, with Horner asserting that it is looking into Perez’s car to see if there’s an underlying issue.
“He’s had a horrible day today,” Horner told Sky Sports.
“It started this morning, the car was late off the weight bridge, there was no major issues and his plan in FP3 was always to run differently to Max – not do a long run, he was just doing two short runs.
“We’re just checking all the data to see if there’s something within the engine management that has maybe contributed to that [issue]. We’re going through that data as we speak.”
Perez’s problems extend back to Friday when his push laps were interrupted by traffic in FP1 before rainfall in the afternoon put an end to one-lap preparations.
“I think confidence is so crucial and he’s been to that point this weekend,” Horner said. “Yesterday he looked very strong, it was just a horrible session. That first run on the Soft tyres, nothing went right for him.
“Then you end up on the back foot, then you’re pushing too hard, then you’re trying to make a bit [up] in the braking zones and so on. Going into qualifying, it wasn’t the ideal build up for him.”
On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Max Verstappen took Red Bull’s third pole in three events this year, as he ousted the Mercedes duo to the top spot.
“It was an outstanding job by Max,” Horner added. “Our strategy was slightly different, we weren’t doing the build lap and push lap, particularly in that last run.
“It was all about the optimum out lap, getting the temperature that he needed in, which is exactly what he did.”
Keyword: ‘A horrible day’ – Horner reflects on Perez’s difficult qualifying