Horner reveals reason why Perez could not win Australia GP

At the Australian Grand Prix, Sergio Perez didn't advance forward. Despite his fast Red Bull, Perez couldn't catch up to Ferrari. Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner explains why.

When Verstappen retires, it's Perez's job to replace the Dutchman as the lead Red Bull car and come away with the win. Only this did not happen last weekend. A grid penalty forced the Mexican to start the race from sixth place. Despite his fast car, Perez failed to make a significant move through the field like he has done at previous races in 2024.

Perez had picked up a tear-off

After the race, Christian Horner told several media outlets how it was that Perez could not move further forward. "We went long on Checo’s first stint. His actual pace when he was coming through the field on the hard tyre as he closed in on Fernando was strong and matched that of the leaders. Then literally as he's passed Fernando, he's picked up a tear off underneath the floor and it's got lodged in an area that's caused significant load loss. Then the car's not working as it should. Then you start to see degradation on the tyre and again at the end of the second stint, which has been unusual for our car."

So, Perez's problem was a tear-off from another driver. A tear-off is a thin layer of plastic that sits on the visor of a helmet. Drivers remove this several times during a race to regain better visibility.

Nevertheless, Horner looks back positively on all of Red Bull's achievements and those to come. "A lot of lessons were obviously taken out of this weekend. Frustrating that we didn't manage to match the ten in a row, but incredible what we've been able to achieve so far."