Sergio Perez Upset With Red Bull Strategy As He Describes Singapore GP As 'Complete Disaster'

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez described his Singapore GP at Marina Bay Street Circuit as a "complete disaster," where he finished P10, while his teammate Max Verstappen secured second place. Perez highlighted Red Bull's failed strategy as the reason for his poor race finish. This also caused McLaren to extend its lead in the Constructors' Championship to Red Bull by 41 points.

Amid Red Bull's recent struggles with the RB20 F1 car's balance problem that the Mexican driver pointed out much earlier in the season, Perez found himself out in Q2 during the qualifying session on Saturday, starting the race from the 13th spot, while Verstappen managed to secure the second spot on the grid behind Lando Norris.

What added to the 34-year-old driver's challenge is the tight nature of Singapore's street circuit, making it quite difficult to stay close to the car in front and perform successful overtakes. However, Perez also blamed Red Bull's strategy for the upsetting race result, as he gained just three positions throughout the 62-lap Grand Prix. Emphasizing that there was potential to undercut more drivers, he explained in the post-race interview, as reported by Formula 1.com:

“Yes, I think also the strategy, looking at it, when you see where Carlos [Sainz] finished [in P7 from P10 on the grid], probably we lost an opportunity to make more progress and undercut more people.

“Once we were on a similar tyre age behind Nico [Hulkenberg], it was… that was pretty much it.”

To make matters worse, Perez revealed that he completed the sweltering race, with temperatures hitting 32°C (89.6°F) and high humidity, without access to a drink. This decision was reportedly made by Red Bull due to concerns about the RB20's weight.

Perez spent a significant portion of the race stuck behind Williams' Franco Colapinto and later Haas' Nico Hulkenberg, struggling to overtake both drivers. Although he eventually passed Colapinto, his race ultimately finished behind Hulkenberg, the future Audi driver. He added:

“It was a very… it was a disaster, complete disaster.

“We had a good Lap 1, we were up to P10 and that’s basically where we finished, so a bit of a shame in that regard.”

2024 Singapore Grand Prix Results

1. Lando Norris
2. Max Verstappen
3. Oscar Piastri
4. George Russell
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Carlos Sainz
8. Fernando Alonso
9. Nico Hulkenberg
10. Sergio Perez
11. Franco Colapinto
12. Yuki Tsunoda
13. Esteban Ocon
14. Lance Stroll
15. Zhou Guanyu
16. Valtteri Bottas
17. Pierre Gasly
18. Daniel Ricciardo - Fastest Lap
19. Kevin Magnussen - DNF
20. Alex Albon - DNF