Sergio Perez reveals that the “wrong” strategy that contributed to him being eliminated in Q2 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix was pre-planned with his Red Bull team.
The Mexican failed to progress to the final phase of qualifying for the ninth time this season on Formula 1’s inaugural weekend visit to the new Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
Having completed his final run in the second stage earlier than the rest, Perez was helpless to respond when both of the Williams drivers, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen all improved late on.
Perez, who eventually dropped to 12th, says the costly choice to not be out on the track when the evolving surface was at its grippiest had been decided in advance.
“We had a strategy before qualifying with the team and obviously we don’t know this place and we were thinking what was the best program and we went this route,” he explained. “Obviously before that, after that, it’s easier to know that it was the wrong call.
“Already in Q1 we were a bit lucky to get through because we didn’t get our final lap coming back to the pits and then in Q2, just finishing the session a little bit too early meant that there was some evolution still on the track and we were on the pits.”
“This is a new place for us, so I wasn’t expecting it but, it’s how it is.”
Ahead of the weekend, the drivers were already poised for the challenge that would be provided by the combination of recently-relayed asphalt and colder track conditions.
Subsequently, many teams opted to run alternative warm-up routines with their drivers in a bid to generate tyre temperature.
“It hasn’t been straightforward,” Perez noted. “I think you saw qualifying people doing different sorts of programs and some people got caught out with it and we were one of them.”
He added: “It was getting better, but obviously the grip level, it’s not been great around this place.”
Although he admitted surprise at posting his last effort in Q2 prematurely, Perez asserts that he had been struggling to extract pace from his RB19 car throughout qualifying.
“I wasn’t aware that much that we were going to finish that early. But also we didn’t seem to have the ultimate tenths in it today. So we were lacking a bit of pace out there.”
Perez will be promoted one place on the grid to 11th for tomorrow’s race due to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz receiving a 10-place grid drop for exceeding power unit components.
With Red Bull typically performing stronger over a race distance than a single lap in qualifying, Perez is optimistic that he can make strong progress through the order.
“I think we should be able to have a lot faster race pace than qualifying pace,” he highlighted. “So hopefully that will bring us forward tomorrow.”
However, Perez is cautious regarding the prospect of excessive tyre degradation being something he will have to avoid as he bids to recover to a high points-scoring position.
“I think that deg could be potentially really high out there,” he highlighted. “So plenty of things to look at tomorrow and we will see what we are able to come out with.”
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