Perez’s race compromised by tear-off stuck in RB20 F1 car floor

Perez began the Melbourne race in sixth after selecting up a three-place penalty for impeding, and having misplaced a spot to George Russell in the beginning he recovered to complete fifth.

He reported that the steadiness did not really feel proper but it surely was solely after the chequered flag that the staff found that the tear-off had turn into lodged within the ground of the automobile.

“We went lengthy on the primary stint,” stated Pink Bull staff principal Christian Horner. “And his precise tempo when he was coming by way of the sphere on the laborious tyre as he closed in on Fernando was robust, and matching that of the leaders.

“After which actually as he is handed Fernando, he is picked up a tear-off beneath the ground and it is obtained lodged in an space that is brought on important load loss.

“In order he is then handed Fernando, the automobile’s not working because it ought to. And so you then begin to see degradation on the tyre, and once more on the finish of the second stint, which has been uncommon for our vehicles.”

Concerning the impression on downforce, Horner added: “I feel it was in extra of 20 factors. So it is a important quantity. It simply reveals how delicate these items are.”

Sergio Perez, Pink Bull Racing

Photograph by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Requested by Motorsport.com if Perez might have challenged the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had he not had a three-place grid drop, Horner thinks that the Italian staff in all probability nonetheless had the sting.

“Troublesome to say,” he stated. “I imply for positive he is been compromised when he is picked up the problem with the ground. I feel they had been perhaps only a bit, perhaps a bit too fast in the present day, however you by no means know.”

Perez recommended that the Albert Park observe merely did not go well with Pink Bull.

“I feel it is in all probability tarmac-related,” stated the Mexican. “If you happen to keep in mind Vegas, we had been already struggling final yr. 

“So I feel there’s one thing in it that. We simply have to verify we work laborious to attempt to perceive what the problems are.

“I feel in the present day we simply did not have the tempo as a staff. If you happen to see Max was overtaken inside two laps. That already reveals one thing.”