Sergio Perez reveals braking issue behind F1 qualifying disaster in Mexico
"It’s been there for the last three races, where I cannot stop the car."
Sergio Perez has revealed an ongoing issue with his brakes led to his F1 qualifying disaster on home soil at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Perez was knocked out in Q1 after struggling for pace throughout qualifying.
It continues Perez’s abysmal run of form, aside from Baku, where he challenged for the podium.
Perez hasn’t finished in the top three since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.
Speaking to media in Mexico, where Crash.net are present in the paddock, Perez explained how an ongoing brake issue is impacting his form.
“Yeah I’m been struggling quite a bit with braking,” he said. “Every time I try to brake and attack the braking, I just put too much energy through the tires, and that makes it very tricky for me to stop the car.
“It’s been there for the last three races, where I cannot stop the car. I’m having to modulate quite a lot my braking, and that’s something we can see in the data, but we are not able to fix it at the moment.”
Perez was heard complaining about the handling of his RB20 in low-speed corners and his inability to rotate the car.
He added: “It’s mainly on a straight line, the issue that we’re facing. It’s mainly on a straight line. I cannot stop the car.
“I just slide too much. Given that it’s all surface sensitivity here, it makes it a lot harder.”
Perez will start the race from 18th on the grid as he looks to give his home crowd something to shout about.
The Mexican conceded that the brake issue is likely to impact him on Sunday.
“It’s going to be harder, because it’s also present there in the long runs. I will try everything, I will try and see what we are able to do with the team, and see what solutions we are able to find,” he added.
“It’s obviously very disappointing. It’s a grand prix I want to do really well, it’s this one. Unfortunately it’s been really difficult and tricky, this event.”
