Christian Horner frustrated by Sergio Perez’s early Austrian GP qualifying exit – ‘just stay within the white lines’

Sergio Perez exits Austrian GP Qualifying in Q2 after having three laps deleted for breaching track limits; Christian Horner frustrated Perez did not copy Max Verstappen by adding more restraint to driving; Verstappen starts Sunday’s race on pole, Perez from P15

Christian Horner could not hide his frustration after Sergio Perez suffered another early exit in qualifying at the Austrian GP.

The Mexican failed to get into Q3 for the fourth consecutive race in the dominant Red Bull after having three laps deleted for track limit infringements during the second part of Friday’s qualifying session.

Max Verstappen also had lap times deleted in Q1 and Q2 but made sure his follow-up laps kept part of his car within the white lines through all corners. The Dutchman will start on pole again, while Perez will be lining up 15th on Sunday.

“He’s got the pace today, he’s got a car that was easily capable of being on the first or second row, he was matching Max’s times, stay in the white lines!” Horner told Sky Sports F1.

“It was strike one, strike two, ‘Checo just stay in the white lines!’ strike three, and that was it.

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George Russell and Perez are out at qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix

“Just hugely frustrating because he could have he could have been there, he could have done it. That’s the frustration. It’s fantastic that we got the pole, but it feels not complete.

“At least [Max] responded to ‘stay in the white lines’ – he did that so he built a conservatism into his laps to make sure that he had a wheel inside the line. There was a little bit more time in the car in that last sector if he hadn’t have gone for it. It was about driving with a bit of restraint.

“It was crystal clear [that it was his last opportunity]. It’s hugely frustrating. The frustrating thing is we know he can do it, he did a 4.9 on that lap, he was three hundredths off Max. He could have been four tenths slower and still been in.

“So Q2, that’s not the time to be doing it. That was the frustrating thing because he could have done it today.

“It is the same for everybody, there’s a car ahead which is not going to have helped but then you build in a little more margin.

“It’s annoying because we know he could have been there.

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Max Verstappen got his fourth successive pole position around Red Bull Ring, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz qualifying second and third respectively

“The most pressure he’s under, is the pressure he puts him under himself. Today he had the pace, Practice One he was right there, the lap times he was doing, he was tenth for tenth with Max today. So that’s the annoying thing, that’s the frustration. He can do it.

“It’s just a great shame because I think this would have really kickstarted things for him and of course, the frustration for us as a team is now we have two Ferraris a little closer versus one Red Bull with Checo out of position.”

Perez unhappy with stewards: ‘The system is wrong’

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Perez reflects on a frustrating qualifying session after he was dropped out in Q2 after a deleted lap time

Perez had lifted himself up to second in Q2 with his final effort in the segment before it was then deleted with the chequered flag already out.

The Mexican admitted his first two deletions were fair but criticised the race stewards for not taking into account that he felt he had been compromised by Alex Albon’s Williams through the final corners on his last run which caused him to go wide.

“Once I got the feedback it was on the way to Turn 10 it was all clear,” Perez said.

“On my final lap I found I think Albon and I just went straight, I could not stop. I think I lost a tenth or a bit more than that just going straight but the stewards wouldn’t consider that I was blocked.

“There are so many things I can control but unfortunately this one – you are closing a good lap and all of a sudden you are blocked and you have a penalty. I think the system is wrong.

“We will try [to recover something on Sunday]. It’s just frustrating that we do not have a good system and we are not able to consider when these things happen.”

More to follow…