Christian Horner reported that Sergio Perez sustained damage to his Red Bull while passing Fernando Alonso during the Australian Grand Prix.
Perez ended fifth at the finish line, but he was the driver on the move mid-race, albeit his momentum slowed after past the Aston Martin driver – and his team principal confessed he damaged his car on the way by the two-time World Champion.
Sergio Perez lost’significant amount of downforce’ during the Australian Grand Prix.
Perez had begun the race on the back foot after receiving a three-place grid penalty for impeding on Saturday, starting sixth on the grid.
He passed Alonso for fifth place during the second stint and was among the fastest cars on track, but his team principal reported that he had sustained damage to his RB20, which would impede his progress for the remainder of the race.
Both Ferrari and McLaren drivers finished ahead of Perez, and Horner praised race winner Carlos Sainz, who recovered from appendix surgery a fortnight earlier to win at Albert Park.
“I mean, he probably isn’t aware of it, but he took some damage as soon as he passed or while he was passing Fernando,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 after the race.
“He lost a substantial amount of downforce from the floor of the car, so we simply need to get the car back to figure out what caused it.
“As soon as you get that, your tire degradation worsens, and we were just not good at the end of the stints, which is an unusual attribute for our cars, so we need to understand that.
“I need to applaud Carlos Sainz today. I mean, after surgery, what an outstanding effort by him and, of course, the Ferrari crew today.”
On the other side of the garage, Max Verstappen led off the line but was passed by Sainz on the second lap before retiring due to a blowout on the right rear of his RB20 as he approached the pit lane.
Expanding on the issue, Horner believes the three-time World Champion approached his non-finish in good spirits after his first displeasure.
“It’s a brake issue,” Horner explained. “It appears that the brake is bound on pretty much from the start of the race, which is why, as Max mentioned, it seemed like a handbrake, causing him to have a couple of moments.
“Then, of course, the heat continued to grow, and the resulting fire occurred.
“So the automobile, obviously, we’ve got all of the parts back and are going over the damage to figure out what caused it.
“Obviously, a driver will be frustrated when he gets out of a car after retirement, but I believe he has been very gracious with the team and all of the mechanics.”
“We are all on the same squad, and the DNF certainly affects everyone in the same manner. So it’s a case of learning from it.
“We’ve had two years with no mechanical DNFs, which is remarkable, so it’s a matter of determining what caused it, learning from it, and moving on.
“So, you know, it’s remarkable after three races that he’s still leading the World Championship even with that DNF, but as I say, a lot of lessons taken out of today.”
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