The Australian Grand Prix finally gave us a race where Max Verstappen did not run away with the race win after having retired from the race early on lap 5. However, Verstappen’s absence meant that Red Bull had to rely on Sergio Perez to salvage their day. But Checo could not make any impression on the Ferraris or the McLarens who were running in the top 4 positions in the race, eventually leading to the season’s first victory for the Scuderia at the hands of Carlos Sainz. But why was that the case? Why was Checo not able to match the pace of Ferrari and McLaren?

Well, Perez believes that the team didn’t have the speed needed to win the Australian Grand Prix in 2024. After the race, he mentioned that their car’s performance lacked balance throughout the weekend in Melbourne, while also pointing out that they struggled with grip all weekend and were not as competitive as Ferrari and McLaren. However, he refused to explain what exactly went wrong for the Mexican in the race, which was later explained by Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner.

Sergio Perez refused to go into details about Red Bulls issues in Australia

While he didn’t go into much detail about his woes in the race itself, Checo elaborated on the challenges they faced throughout the weekend, stating that Red Bull’s long-run simulations during practice did not show their true potential. Reflecting on the race, he acknowledged that the red and the papaya cars seemed to have an edge over them, especially in managing tire grip.

Perez emphasized the need for improvement, particularly in understanding the unique characteristics of different tracks and optimizing tire management. “We had problems with the car that I can’t go into detail about, but I think it hurt us a lot today,“ said Checo.

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“On the first stint we made some tweaks to the setup and we got a lot of tire degradation at the back, then in the second stint, it was all the other way around, with deg on the front. Throughout the weekend, we were a step behind Ferrari and McLaren. Next races, it will be very competitive,” the Mexican added.

As the race ended, Christian Horner came over on the team radio during Checo’s in-lap to apologize for the team’s poor performance, while also acknowledging that this was a good learning opportunity for the team to improve in future races.

With Checo refusing to share the exact issues he faced during the race, Horner later explained that his driver had suffered damage, which cost him lap time.

Christian Horner explains why Sergio Perez was slow in the race

Commenting on Sergio Perez’s performance, Christian Horner explained that it was not the Mexican’s fault in failing to capitalize on his chance to win in Melbourne. He revealed that Perez faced challenges due to damage sustained during the race, affecting the car’s downforce and tire degradation.

“He’s probably not aware of it but he picked up some damage and lost a significant amount of downforce from the floor of the car when he passed Fernando [Alonso],“ Horner explained as per Crash.net. “As soon as you get that, your tire deg gets worse. We were just not good at the end of the stints, which is an unusual trait for our cars. We need to understand that.”

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Carlos Sainz looked pretty much unbeatable today. However, could Sergio Perez have challenged for the win if he did not get the floor damage? What are your thoughts on the matter?