Sergio Perez blames getting stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg for ruining his Singapore Grand Prix
Every year, the Singapore Grand Prix reconfirms itself as one of the most difficult races on the Formula One calendar. Going into the weekend, Sergio Perez was looking to execute his comeback following his late DNF in Azerbaijan. But it wasn’t meant to be after a difficult qualifying session saw him fail to reach Q3.
The Marina Bay Circuit isn’t known for its overtaking unless there are incidents between drivers. The lack of even a yellow flag made gaining positions more difficult for the Mexican, who spent large chunks of his race stuck behind the impressive Franco Colapinto and Nico Hulkenberg.
“He’s very good”
Checo was impressed by Franco's defence ?#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/PHnOUy15hE
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024
Following the race, Perez expressed his disappointment to reporters regarding his progress in the race. He said:
“I think so. I think we had a pretty good lap one, but unfortunately, we didn’t capitalise on it. Unfortunately, Carlos [Sainz] did the undercut on us and, looking at it, I think given how difficult it was to overtake today, we really needed to be a little bit further ahead. It was a total disaster to be behind Nico for the entire race. That was quite a painful afternoon.”
Sadly, for the Red Bull driver, his Sunday was dictated by a poor Saturday, as he explained:
“I think it’s a shame, really, that we just qualified so far out of position.”
He continued, “We know what things we did wrong, and we’ve got to go to come back and hopefully in Austin, I think it’s where we can show our true pace because the car should be a lot better in a more standard circuit.”
Will Perez, and Red Bull, bounce back in Texas?
Feature Image Credit: @redbullracing on X