The championship is well and truly slipping away from Sergio Perez. And it wasn’t the slippery conditions in Montreal today that actually did that to him. Once again, the Mexican had an appalling Qualifying while his Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen stormed to his 25th Pole Position. From the looks of it, Perez’s Q2 exit was his own doing. However, keen-eyed fans have unearthed an alternate theory.

Perez got knocked out in Q2, while drivers lower down in the F1 rung put in sensational laps. For instance, Alex Albon topped the session in a Williams! Then why was Perez so mightily off the pace? Well, as it turns out, it was a decision on the pit wall that led to a disastrous Qualifying for the 33-year-old and not his outright lack of speed.

While drivers like Albon put in stonking laps on a drying track in Q2, Red Bull decided to call Perez in a lap or two too early for Intermediate tires. This decision even prompted Checo to question his team’s strategy, but all Hugh Bird, his race engineer could muster was, “Yeah. We just…”

Fans react as Sergio Perez gets sabotaged by Red Bull while Max Verstappen shines on pole

Not being able to match Max Verstappen toe-to-toe is something that Perez has been crucified for. But what happens when the man isn’t even given a chance? After this new information regarding Perez’s Q2 exit came to light, fans rushed to Twitter to hold the Bulls accountable.

One fan even commented, “This is just f**king pathetic man. F**K YOU REDBULL”

Let’s take a look at just a few of the fan reactions from this bizarre Red Bull gaffe.

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All the ire of Checo’s fans was directed toward just one entity. As captured by the fans, it wasn’t the Mexican who messed up, it was them. And what appalled them, even more, was that Verstappen came out unscathed from this. Hence, the apparent disbalance in the team.

Even Perez’s race engineer, Hugh Bird got caught in the crossfire!

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Rather than being doomed from Perez’s end, is it mandated at the Milton-Keynes-based outfit that only Max Verstappen shall be worthy enough to win the championship in 2023?