Marko BLAMES Perez for 'painful' Red Bull woes

Helmut Marko has blamed Sergio Perez for a disastrous weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Mexican driver made his second consecutive Q1 exit during qualifying, starting the grand prix down in 16th.

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Perez’s luck worsened in the race, crashing into the wall and destroying his rear wing, which earned him a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish GP.

Montreal marked Perez’s second consecutive DNF, after a horrifying crash in Monaco, meaning he has fallen to fifth in the drivers’ standings.

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Perez’s poor performance follows a contract renewal with Red Bull, signing a two-year extension which, if completed, will take him up to the 2026 regulation changes.

The 34-year-old’s dip in performance is perplexing, with Red Bull advisor Marko pinpointing the reason in an interview with ServusTV.

“It’s not the car, you can see that with Max. I think it’s more psychological,” he said.

“When the conditions change, he finds it much more difficult. But the fact that it’s already the third time is painful.”

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However, team principal Christian Horner tipped his driver to bounce back strongly for the Spanish GP.

“It’s a horrible weekend for Checo. Obviously we’ve picked up some damage so, yeah he’ll need to come back strong in Barcelona. Thankfully Ferrari had a shocker today so didn't get any points, so that let us off the hook somewhat,” Horner said to Sky Sports.

“I think Checo, what we see with him time and time again, you think he’s on the ropes and then he bounces back.

"He’s a tough racer, he’s a tough character and I think, it hurts him more than anyone else and he’ll be determined to come back and show everybody the form we know he’s capable of and showed in the first four races of this year, in Barcelona.”

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