29 July 2023 , 13:42
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Sergio Perez cut a frustrated figure after going only eighth fastest in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint.
The Mexican looked to have ended his qualifying woes on Friday by making sure he will start Sunday's race eighth. But he will be six places further back when he lines up for the start of the Sprint on Saturday afternoon.
The 33-year-old was a victim of the traffic which had piled up at the final chicane. Instead of getting a clean run at the start of his last flying lap in SQ3, he was hampered and did not have the chance to improve.
To negotiate the cars around him he had to go onto the parts of the track which were still wet from the morning downpours. And that created a treacherous situation that Perez was not happy about.
"It was a mess," the Red Bull racer declared when asked for his verdict on the session. "A super dangerous situation that I found myself in with one dry line and people just stopped.
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"The difference in speed was huge, so really bad. I then opened my final lap on Charles' tail so nothing I could do, I was just sitting there. Not good. Unfortunately, we didn't have a good run programme."
He was far from the only one impeded late in that session. Lewis Hamilton found his own team-mate George Russell in the way as he tried one more lap, angrily stating over the radio: "Yeah, it doesn't help when you're held up."
The younger Brit later explained: "It was a total mess from start to finish, to be honest. I'm surprised I got to Q3 because of so many mistakes on my side. And then there was a bit of miscommunication at the end.
"I think we were stressing about the clock finishing, but he had more time than expected. I was too close to the car in front and Lewis was too close to me. A bad, bad session."
And Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle was left unimpressed, stating: "He's made a lot of mistakes and he's been open and honest about that. I think he owes Lewis an apology for what happened, by mugging him around the outside, starting a lap and then making the mistake in front of him.
"He should have yielded at that point, with Lewis on his tail coming out of La Source. It's been a scrappy weekend for George but, as they say, they hand the prizes out at the end of the race."