Saturday marked a classification with mixed fortunes in the Red Bull garage. While Max Verstappen took Pole Position and reversed the team’s difficult weekend up to that point, Sergio Perez was left out of the Top 10 on Saturday in Imola, where he will start P11 in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Mexican had an accident in FP3 that caused a red flag to stop the session. Although his car was repaired and ready for qualifying, the 34-year-old did not manage to get past Q2.
Team Principal Christian Horner assured that he expects a good race from Perez at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, admitting that reaching the podium seems difficult due to the nature of the circuit, as well as the pace of McLaren and Ferrari.
The Red Bull team principal explained where Perez lost his time.
“Yeah, he got a bit out of shape at the first chicane and then the second chicane didn’t go as well as he’d have hoped,” Horner said after qualifying on Saturday.
“Then he’s recovering all the way around the rest of the lap, but he just missed out by the finest of margins. 11th place is very frustrating when you’ve just been the first person not to make it into Q3.
“But you can still have a good race from there tomorrow.”
Horner was also quizzed on Yuki Tsunoda’s performance. The Briton praised the 24-year-old and took the opportunity to mention Ricciardo’s entry into Q3 with the RB F1 Team.
Qualifying in Imola marks the fifth time this season that Tsunoda qualifies inside the Top 10 as he continues to be one of the most impressive drivers this season.
A top 5 even looked on at one stage as he was P2 at one point in Q2, 0.030s slower than Charles Leclerc. But the bigger teams found a good step in Q3.
“Wow, he was a little pocket rocket today. I mean, Q2, at one point it looked like he was going to go to the top of the leaderboard.
“So a great performance by him. And, again, Daniel Ricciardo getting into Q3 [as well] at their home race — I think they’re only based 50 kilometres from here.”
David Coulthard, former Red Bull driver and 13-time Grand Prix winner, backed up Horner’s comments by praising the 24-year-old driver and talking about the enormous progress Tsunoda has made since 2021.
“Yeah. He’s connected with the car and it’s really given him the confidence. He’s been able to attack those braking zones, and the onboards just show him driving so beautifully.
“Credit where it’s due. What a brilliant performance from him.
“Daniel Ricciardo, not quite as quick, but inside the top 10.
“He [Tsunoda] is a lovely guy. He seems to have really brought it all together.
”He’s had a strong start to the season and what a great place for him to say ‘hey, I have got the outright speed as well’.”
