Mark Webber admits ‘heavily distracted’ F1 driver faces ‘tricky times’ as challenge set

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Mark Webber admits Sergio Perez faces ‘tricky times’ in Formula 1 and also questions if the Red Bull driver is ‘heavily distracted’ after his poor Qatar Grand Prix last Sunday.

The 33-year-old scored just one point at the Lusail International Circuit after hurting his own race with three time penalties. Perez drew the irk of the stewards after frequently exceeding track limits. Red Bull even warned the Mexican about the infringements costing him a result.

Perez had steadily crept back up the order after Red Bull started the Guadalajara native from the pit lane. But his hopes of brushing aside retiring from the Sprint on Saturday were short-lived. He served two five-second penalties over the race and another while crossing the line.

Perez harmed his own Qatar GP with three 5-second penalties

Perez’s last time penalty dropped him from P9 to P10 as Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen took Qatar GP glory. His pain might have been worse, too, had Lewis Hamilton not retired on the opening lap. The Mercedes ace is hunting the Mexican’s P2 in the drivers’ championship.

Hamilton has made inroads into Perez’s advantage in recent weeks with the Red Bull driver’s form tumbling. Since finishing in second at the Italian GP, Perez finished P8 at the Singapore GP and retired twice from the Japanese GP before also ruining his own race at the Qatar GP.

Perez added another race to his miserable run of results in F1

Perez only had himself to blame for poor results in Singapore, Japan and Qatar, too. The Red Bull No2 only qualified down in P13 around Marina Bay before Perez shunted Alex Albon out of the points. The Mexican even had contact with Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen at Suzuka.

His contact with Hamilton was only a first corner of the first lap incident. But Perez was fully to blame for crashing into Magnussen in a similar way to his crash with Albon. Another crash followed in Qatar with Perez in a three-wide tangle with Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon.

Webber issues a challenge amid questioning the Red Bull driver

Perez crashing in the Sprint whilst trying to recover from qualifying in P8 and then receiving multiple time penalties in the Qatar GP befuddled ex-Red Bull driver, Webber. The Australian now questions if the Mexican’s mind is totally on the job or is a case of a lack of confidence.

Webber also fears for what could come if Perez cannot rebuild his confidence. But the nine-time Grand Prix winner believes one half-decent weekend can see Perez rediscover the form he showed earlier in 2023. He started this year with two wins over the first four Grand Prix.

“I think that he was just again heavily distracted tonight,” Webber said on Channel 4. “Not operating a Grand Prix car, putting it in the window it needs to be for lap after lap after lap. Whether his mind’s somewhere [else or] he’s just shattered with confidence, [I’m not sure].

“If he can get himself one half-decent weekend, I think he’s a chance to get back to himself at the start of the season. But, ultimately, right now, he cannot take a trick to compound by the mistakes, and it’s tricky times for him.”