Red Bull may take grid penalty hit after 'massive qualifying blow up' for Perez

Sergio Perez has confirmed Red Bull will consider taking power unit penalties for the Dutch Grand Prix after suffering a "massive blow up" in qualifying.

After missing out on reaching Q2, Perez will start 16th on the Zandvoort grid as a consequence of failing to conjure a final hot lap in the first session due to a number of factors.

At a circuit where it is predicted to be hard to overtake and limiting the chances of Perez scoring heavily, Red Bull may take advantage and fit the Mexican's RB16B with a new power unit.

That follows the loss of one of the three systems in the pool as a result of being hit by Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas at the first corner on the opening lap of the Hungarian GP.

Asked as to the chances of fitting a fourth PU and so taking penalties, Perez replied: "We are thinking about it. We will consider the possibility."

Perez found himself "in a bit of a mess"

Explaining what unfolded in Q1 and why he missed out on improving on his time, Perez said: "A few too many things happened.

"Our cut off wasn't expecting the track evolution that we had; we probably had a little bit too much fuel on that first run.

"We were monitoring the laps from other people, and then we realised we were in a bit of a mess and we didn't manage to complete the lap.

"I think we missed out by a second and a half, something like that, which is extremely frustrating.

"I was progressing well, I was feeling more comfortable as the run was progressing and it was just a massive blow up for us."

Suggested to Perez that he appeared to have enough time on his out lap to make his final run, he said: "It was getting a bit messier with the guys I had to let through.

"I didn't know how critical it was at the time. I think we left the garage with two minutes so we had plenty of time.

"But there were people making a gap in the pitlane so a lot of factors meant we lost our lap."

Related

Latest F1 News

F1 announces track to make SHOCK exit from race calendar

• December 4, 2024 11:39

Latest F1 News

Major Verstappen update REVEALED following legal action

• October 12, 2024 10:56