Perez: “We got it wrong” on F1 tyre call in latest Q3 miss at Canadian GP

The Mexican finished the session in 12th place and missed out on Q3 for the third race in a row.

Like other drivers Perez opted to do a banker lap on intermediates before pitting for slicks, only to find the rain returning, and Valtteri Bottas in front of him.

However, unlike Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who also missed Q3, he wasn’t frustrated by the call to start the session with inters, agreeing that it was a team decision to do the banker lap.

“It was basically half a lap too late and the track position was really poor with the Alfa Romeo ahead,” he said when asked by Autosport about his session.

“And once the tyres were up to temperature on the slick, it started raining harder, so we decided to box. Then, when we went onto the inter, it was all a bit too late.

“That was always the plan – to do one lap and come back in for the slick tyre.”

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Francois Tremblay

Perez stressed that he had agreed with the team’s strategy: “We took the decision together and we got it wrong. But it was literally a gamble, the track.

“We were missing four or five-tenths, and then it was all down to the track. There was certainly much more potential in the car to get the lap earlier, but we just didn’t get the lap when we could have.”

Perez acknowledged that failing to reach Q3 for a third time was not an ideal situation.

“I’m definitely not feeling great, I’m not going through a great moment,” he said. “But we’ve come back before and the race is a new opportunity to, hopefully, get back to very strong points.

“What happened in qualifying was just a mess really. Being half a lap earlier here and there, the picture would have looked a lot different and we would have had a good day.

“We just have to keep our heads down and it will come to us. We will try hard to get through the field. It won’t be an easy ask, but we will try everything.”