Sergio Perez admits ‘total disaster’ in blunt Las Vegas Grand Prix strategy assessment

On the back foot after qualifying, Sergio Perez admits he and Red Bull should’ve done a better job in the Las Vegas Grand Prix but that “we didn’t”.

Perez took the gamble of starting Saturday night’s race on the hard Pirelli tyres despite every one of the drivers ahead of him lining up on the mediums.

Sergio Perez scored just a single point in Las Vegas

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

However, high degradation blew his strategy and he pitted on lap 20 for a set of medium tyres having been running as high as P2 when those ahead of him pitted. But as his tyre fell off, he dropped to seventh before pitting for a fresh set of medium tyres.

That also cost him as he was on the mediums while those he was racing used the hard tyres, Perez having to then pit ahead of them due to tyre deg.

He went on to finish the Grand Prix in 10th place, scoring just a single point towards Red Bull’s Constructors’ Championship fight. On a night where Ferrari scored big, Red Bull dropped to 30 points behind Ferrari who closed the gap to McLaren to 24 points.

Although Perez admits both he and Red Bull should’ve done a better job, he is adamant they are heading in the right direction.

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“I think we were not expecting this level of degradation,” Perez told media including PlanetF1.com after the race.

“So we thought starting on the hard will give us opportunity to go very long and then switch for the medium for a very relative short stint, but it wasn’t the case.

“The track was very green in the beginning, and we grained the hard, which meant that we had to do a very long stint on the on the medium and then going onto the hard, it was just a total disaster, unfortunately.

“But we were not expecting this level of degradation, so it didn’t work out the strategy, for us.

“We definitely had a lot better pace than where we finished, but I don’t think we maximised the result, but we got the strategy wrong today unfortunately.

“I think yesterday, we compromised the qualifying with the with the tyres, so we’ve got some work to do to make sure that these things don’t happen on our side.”

As for Red Bull’s chances of adding to the Constructors’ title to Max Verstappen’s Drivers’ crown, Perez says it’s still a possibility.

“It’s not mathematically lost, we’re gonna keep pushing,” Perez said. “I really hope that in Qatar we can turn things around and be a lot more competitive.

“I think we really need to solve the issues we’ve had this year. I think the team knows exactly where we are at, and Red Bull is the best team, and I believe that we can have a much better car for next year.”

Verstappen is officially the 2024 F1 World Champion with his P5 in Las Vegas handing him an unassailable 63-point over Lando Norris. Perez, who has scored just 21 points since the summer break, is P8 with his Red Bull seat on the line.

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