F1 News

Perez blames Ocon for sprint qualifying P8 Austrian Grand Prix

Perez blames Ocon for his sprint qualifying performance: 'What's he doing?'

28 June at 17:24
2
  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

Once again, it was a different result for the two Red Bull Racing drivers. While Max Verstappen managed to defeat Lando Norris to claim pole position for the Sprint on Saturday, Sergio Perez finished seventh. Following the session, the Mexican blamed Esteban Ocon for his performance.

1.3 seconds was 'Checo' Perez's gap to his teammate, Max Verstappen, in SQ3 of the Austrian Grand Prix. It was a chaotic final session on Friday, as drivers left it the last minute to complete their laps. That caused some out laps to be less than ideal. "I think we were in the mix today. Unfortunately I don't know what Esteban was doing there where he apparently had to to drive really slowly and I did my final lap within half a second from him, and basically there was no chance," the Mexican told F1TV.

However, Perez was more optimistic about the Sprint. "I'm confident that tomorrow will be a better day. It was out of our control. We didn't end up where we needed to be and I'm confident that tomorrow will be a better day."

How did Checo do before the 'Ocon incident'?

The 1.3 second could seem like an outlier if Perez was indeed held up by the Frenchman, and had a difficult out lap. However, the Mexican was once again constantly behind the Dutchman in both SQ1 and SQ2. Even if advancing is only what matters, Perez first finished 0.566 seconds, then 0.426 second behind the defending champion, a gap that has been constant in Austria so far.