The Singapore Grand Prix weekend has been a massive disappointment for the championship leaders Red Bull. Both cars reported a loss of rear traction since Friday’s practice session; it all culminated in a shocking qualifying session that saw both cars eliminated in Q2 for the first time since Russia 2018.
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Along with his teammate, Sergio Perez struggled to maintain the RB19’s rear end pointed in the right way, and the Mexican spun at the end of Q2 to start P13 tomorrow. He pointed out that the Milton Keynes team has more trouble getting one-lap pace out of its new package than it does with its race simulations. He looked back at his weekend so far, saying: “It was quite difficult; we’ve been playing around with the car, we started really well with a nice balance in FP1, but then FP2 was very difficult.
“It’s been tough because we’ve been making a few changes here and there, but nothing seems to transform the balance, and then it just made it worse, the fact that I couldn’t bring my final attempt in Q2, had a massive under-delivery from the engine and then it dipped really hard, and I end up losing the car, it’s a massive shame.”
The Mexican driver expressed his trust in the team to deliver a solid race despite the dreadful qualifying and difficulties of Singapore, adding; “I think there are some interesting bits going on that we need to figure out overnight, hopefully.
“We seem to be struggling a little bit with the rear end of the car, especially in FP2, so plenty of things to look at. Hopefully, we can come up with the best possible set-up because we know qualifying is very important.”
Ferrari’s strong speed doesn’t surprise Perez. While optimistic about their race pace, the six-time Grand Prix winner knows qualifying is the big part of the weekend around Singapore.
“We did expect the Ferrari to be very strong around here. We’re just too far away, so hopefully tomorrow we are able to close the gap a bit more. But it’s quite a challenge.
“Over a race distance, we’re looking good, but that doesn’t count for much around here. We need to find the balance to be quick over one lap.”
