As the ‘Sergio Pérez 2024 Spanish GP’ saga ends, it was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride – a true “nightmare of a race“, as the driver himself so vividly described it. After his “quite hard” P8 grab, he revealed that he was “struggling for balance in the car“.
Following a three-place grid penalty after the Canadian GP, Pérez saw his qualifying spot relegated to P11 on Sunday. Despite hoping for a podium before the weekend, he finished with a disappointing P8 spot.
Regarding this, the Mexican racer spilled his personal reactions after the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix.
Sergio Pérez 2024 Spanish GP: ‘It was nightmare of a race. Very difficult overall’
As the race ended at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Red Bull witnessed both sides of the coin in the results table. Starting from P11 of the grid, Sergio Pérez managed to grab a “quite hard” P8 spot. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen brought in another pole position for the Austrian outfit.
In particular, the Mexican crossed the chequered flag with a race time of 1:29:19.751– 59.524 seconds later than his teammate. Above him, Red Bull’s major F1 rivals – McLaren, Scuderia Ferrari, and Mercedes–took over the ‘P7 and above’ spots. Despite a struggling run, he managed to keep the ‘lower table’ teams at bay, below him.
During the race, Pérez was stuck in the midfield early and stopped to find free air. He switched to a three-stop strategy to advance in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Moreover, he frequently encountered traffic while climbing through the pack. His RB20 struggled for grip, causing him to slide through corners. Late in the race, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri passed him as he slipped back.
In the post-race session, the Red Bull #2 admitted that it was a “nightmare of race” for him in Barcelona. Beginning his interview, he revealed that his performance was “compromised on that first stint“. Reflecting on it, he said:
“Yeah, the dependency we had where we started, it was so difficult to pass on that first stint; my race was over.”
“I was stuck behind Nico [Hülkenberg], and I was just sliding around really badly, and it was a nightmare of a race. So, very difficult race overall.”
“In the end we switched to the three-stop, we managed to come back into Gasly and secure P8, but it was quite hard. I think basically everything was compromised on that first stint.”
Carrying a three-place grid penalty, he admitted that he was struggling to find a balance in the car. The 32-year-old also took an experimental approach to free practice over the weekend. Asked if he just needs a ‘clean weekend’, he replied by quoting:
“Yeah, I think our weekend was very dirty in terms of we basically explored more than testing, probably, the car.”
“From FP1 to FP2, I think we’ve never swung around on setup so many things. So, I think we were a bit desperate, I’ll say, to try and find the balance.”
“So, we need to review all of that, but I see the light out of the tunnel.”
Pérez says he’ll take his P8 finish ‘as a learning curve and go on to the next one’
During the media session, ‘Checo’ also affirmed that next weekend’s 2024 Austrian GP is the “best he can have” to bounce back from his poor run. Talking about it, he said that he’ll take this poor form “as a learning curve and go on to the next one“. Concluding the session, he finished by saying:
“It’s the best you can have [to have another race straight away, ed.], because you take this experience as a learning curve and go on to the next one, there will be other challenges.”
“It’s a long season ahead, so it’s just important to be able to keep our head down.”
As the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix ends, the Mexican currently sits at P5 in the 2024 Drivers’ Standings with 111 points. However, this is a massive 108 points lower than the “table-topper” Max Verstappen. Consequently, if his poor run continues, Red Bull will face a huge headache in the next few rounds, as Scuderia Ferrari is just 50 points behind them in the 2024 Constructor Standings.
For his next battle, Pérez will take on the Red Bull Ring with his RB20 car for the 2024 Austrian GP. This racing event will be Round 11 of the 2024 F1 season and is scheduled to take place between June 28th and 30th.
Photo Credit: Red Bull Racing
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