Danica Patrick slams 33-year-old F1 driver for Las Vegas GP qualifying ‘mistake’

Follow us on Google Discover

Danica Patrick believes Red Bull and Sergio Perez both made a ‘mistake’ in qualifying for the Las Vegas GP after the Mexican only secured P12 at Formula 1’s newest event.

Shocks littered qualifying for the Las Vegas GP on Saturday as McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri bowed out in Q1. Mercedes legend Lewis Hamilton even then joined Perez in exiting the running in Q2. While Charles Leclerc beat Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz to P1.

Leclerc will lead Max Verstappen off the front row of the grid following Sainz’s 10-place grid penalty after damage from a water valve cover in FP1. It drops the Spaniard down to P12, to lessen the misery for Perez and Hamilton. But it was still just Perez’s latest woeful qualifying.

Perez adds the Las Vegas GP to the Red Bull drivers’ unwanted record

Perez has produced an often horrific record in qualifying during the 2023 Formula 1 season. The Las Vegas GP is now the ninth time that the 33-year-old has failed to reach Q3 after 21 rounds. His P12 finish is also amongst the Guadalajara natives’ worst results so far this year.

Red Bull first saw Perez fail to reach Q3 in Australia when he failed to set a single lap time in Q1. The Mexican locked up and beached his car at Turn 1. He has since qualified P20 for the Monaco GP, plus P12 in Canada, P13 in Singapore and Qatar and P15 in Austria and Britain.

Patrick believes qualifying has exposed one of Perez’s weaknesses

Now, Perez has added the new Las Vegas GP to his unwanted record as Formula 1 returns to Sin City for the first time since 1982. The six-time Grand Prix winner could also only watch as rival drivers pushed his fastest time out of the top 10. He was initially the sixth fastest in Q2.

Red Bull elected to keep Perez in the pits at the end of Q2 having sent the Mexican out early. But the lap times kept getting quicker as Williams pair Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly all made it into Q3.

Former IndyCar and Nascar driver, Patrick, believes Red Bull and Perez both made a mistake by going out early. She feels it is a clear weakness in the ex-Force India driver’s ability to set his best time in the early laps. So, Red Bull should have just matched their rivals and waited.

“He tends to go out early in qualifying and it’s not his strong suit,” Patrick told Sky Sports F1 (18/11, 09:34). “So, I feel like a different approach would have been good. And, of course, at a track like this that just keeps getting faster, so it was just a mistake.”