Perez says brake problem made him "a passenger" in Q1 incident
Sergio Perez says he was "a passenger" in his Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Q1 exit, as an unresolved FP3 braking issue caused his Red Bull's gravelly Turn 3 off.
Perez had a disrupted FP3 as he joined the session 20 minutes late, and he ended up over half a second down on team-mate Max Verstappen after two push laps were wrecked by locking up under braking.
Speaking after qualifying, Perez explained that "we thought we fixed that" prior to qualifying, only for his RB19 to skate into the gravel on his first push lap in Q1 at Turn 3 after locking his right-front wheel.
The Mexican was unable to rejoin the circuit and without setting a time he will start last for tomorrow's grand prix while Verstappen claimed pole.
Perez said that the problem related to the brake balance moving "quite far forwards as soon as I was braking".
"We had a bit of a technical issue from FP3 and we thought we fixed that, but we obviously didn't," he said when asked to explain his troubles by Motorsport.com.
"It was very difficult to do anything out there, just braking. I became a passenger as soon as I touched the brake.
"It's something that is moving the brake balance quite far forwards on the braking.
"I just hope that we are able to fix it as a team tomorrow and be able to race and minimise the damage."
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
It marks the second time in as many races that Red Bull has failed to get both cars to Q3, after Verstappen's driveshaft problem left him 15th on the grid for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The double world champion recovered to finish second in Jeddah behind Perez, but despite the addition of a fourth DRS zone to the Albert Park circuit for 2023, Perez expects "it's going to be a difficult track to overtake" on and recover to a top position.
"If we are not able to put it all together, every single Saturday and Sunday, the competition is very strong," he added.
However, he stated that he had confidence in his team "that we will be able to overcome this problem and to have a strong race pace".
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