Sergio Perez suspects that his comeback prospects in Formula 1’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix were dealt a hit when he incurred damage going through a gravel trap.
Perez endured a miserable outing at Imola as he failed to recover from Red Bull’s practice struggles in the same manner as Max Verstappen and slumped to a Q2 exit.
The Mexican managed to gain one place at the start on Daniel Ricciardo’s RB to move into 10th, and was bidding to run an extended first stint on the Hard compound.
However, Perez struggled to make inroads across the opening stages, resulting in his front-running rivals emerging from their pit stops and breezing past the Red Bull.
His prospects had been hampered earlier in proceedings when he went wide into the gravel at Rivazza 1 on Lap 18, which Perez reckons left him with a wounded car.
“I think pretty much it was the maximum we could have achieved, even where we started,” Perez, who trailed home eighth as team-mate Verstappen won, commented.
“We risked it, we knew it was a very risky strategy and the teams were not favouring that strategy, but we were dreaming a bit with the Safety Car at the right point for us.
“Also I think it was really bad going off, I was playing around with the balance to try and protect a little bit the rear axle and then I just went straight into Turn 16.
“That meant that I feel like I picked up some damage that compromised also the race because I lost like six, seven seconds and that put me close to the people behind.”
However, Perez is adamant that his challenging outing is not comparable to the slump he encountered last season and expects to be back at the sharp end in Monaco.
“I think we just had a one-off even though the weekend has been strong all the way to quali; unfortunately we just didn’t manage to get a proper qualifying,” he added.
Meanwhile, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner shielded Perez from criticism amid questions concerning whether his lacklustre showing had impacted his future.
“I think our simulations there were saying before the race that P7 was potentially optimal and no cars, nothing happened, no Safety Cars or anything like that,” he said.
“He had one trip through the gravel that cost him about six seconds, but I think that was about the maximum he could get from that grid position today.”
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