Helmut Marko blames Sergio Perez for 'painful' Red Bull woes

Helmut Marko has insisted that the car is not to blame for Sergio Perez’s recent struggles, instead attributing them to a ‘psychological’ issue in the Mexican’s mind. Fresh off the back of a new two-year contract extension, the former Racing Point star dropped out of qualifying in Q1 at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Perez’s qualifying form has been nothing short of miserable in 2024, missing out on Q2 on three separate occasions, including in back-to-back weekends in Monte Carlo and Montreal. This weekend, that disappointment was followed by a miserable outing in the Grand Prix.

Starting from the back end of the field, Perez failed to make up any notable ground before a crash on lap 53 collapsed his rear wing and forced him to hobble back to the pit lane. His team-mate, meanwhile, saw off the threat of Lando Norris and George Russell to claim a sixth win of the season.

The result of another pointless outing for Perez is that he heads into the Spanish Grand Prix with an 87-point deficit to team-mate Max Verstappen at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

Responding to his latest woes, Marko informed ServusTV of his theory. “It’s not the car, you can see that with Max. I think it’s more psychological,” he said. “When the conditions change, he finds it much more difficult. But the fact that it’s already the third time is painful.”

Team principal Christian Horner shared Marko’s frustrations, labelling his second driver’s weekend in Montreal as ‘horrible’ and thanking his lucky stars that Ferrari endured an even more miserable outing.

The Italian constructor was hot on Red Bull’s tail in the Constructors’ Championship battle prior to race day in Canada, but Fred Vasseur was forced to retire both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc following a dismal day out on track.

Addressing Perez’s poor weekend, Horner said: “It was a horrible weekend for Checo and, obviously, we picked up some damage. He'll need to come back strong in Barcelona.

"Thankfully, Ferrari had a shocker and didn't get any points so that let us off the hook somewhat, but we need both cars scoring. We got away with it today but we need Checo back up there where he was at the beginning of the year from Barcelona onwards."

Despite these struggles, Horner backed his driver to respond to his critics. "What we see with Checo time and time again is that when you think he's on the ropes, he bounces back,” he said.

“He's a tough racer and he's a tough character and it hurts him more than anybody else. He'll be determined to come back and show everybody the form we know he's capable of and that he showed in the first four races of this year."