On a day where Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen grabbed the headlines, flying the flag high for their respective teams thanks to their performance, it was their teammates who did the exact opposite; Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas had a race to forget.

The duo ended the round without any points, albeit for two different reasons. Why did they struggle so much in the same car on a day when their teammates blew the competition away? Ross Brawn may have an answer.

Brawn, F1’s managing director, in his column gave a reason as to why Perez and Bottas disappointed with their pace at Imola. The reason he gives pretty much takes away any conspiracies of them having a different car as compared to their teammates.

He said, “In my experience, the reason for such significant differences with the same cars is nearly always down to poor tyre temperature.”

Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas’ struggles not down to loss of confidence

Brawn further elaborated on his previous point saying, “I don’t think it was a case of drivers losing confidence here – they just didn’t seem to have the car they wanted and didn’t generate enough tyre temperature.

“Sometimes a driver is getting the tyres to work and the other not – and it looks horrible as the difference is amplified massively, even if it’s only very fine margins.

Perez’s day ended with him crossing the checkered flag in P12. He got bumped up to P11 thanks to Kimi Raikkonen’s 30-second penalty, but even that wasn’t enough to secure a points finish.

As for Bottas, his poor race had a catastrophic finish at the midway point. He was involved in a bad crash with George Russell, that left both drivers not too pleased with the other.

But both Checo and Valtteri will have to get their act together soon. Although they may not be seen as favorites in the Drivers’ championship, they will play a pivotal role in determining who the Constructors’ title goes to.

Read More: George Russell: Bottas Incident “Not Going to Harm My Relationship With Mercedes”