Red Bull enforce tactical Sergio Perez PU change after latest Q1 exit

Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing

Sergio Perez will start the British Grand Prix from the pit lane after Red Bull opted to introduce a new power unit for their driver after a fresh Q1 exit.

In a similar occurrence to last season, Perez has suffered a slump in form after a promising start to the F1 2024 campaign. His off during Q1 at Silverstone, which resulted in him getting beached in the gravel at Copse, marked his third exit at that stage during the last five rounds.

Sergio Perez starts from pit lane at Silverstone

With Perez set to start P19 on the grid, Red Bull has made the tactical move to introduce new power unit components for the Mexican, which has triggered a pit-lane start at Silverstone.

Red Bull has given Perez a new internal combustion engine, energy store, control electronics and exhaust.

With this being his fifth ICE of the season, that breaches the maximum permitted four of this component for a season, while Perez’s new energy store is his third of two permitted, as is the case with the control electronics.

Only Perez’s new exhaust, his sixth of eight allowed for the season, is within the bounds of the regulations.

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Perez’s slump has reignited speculation over his Red Bull future, despite only signing a new multi-year deal ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

But Perez insists that topic is “done and dusted” as he assured that he will return to form.

PlanetF1.com reported on Friday at Silverstone that Red Bull senior adviser and driver programme boss Helmut Marko is not fully ruling out the idea of a potential seat swap with VCARB’s Daniel Ricciardo.

When asked by media including PlanetF1.com whether the rumoured pressure to maintain his Red Bull seat played a part in his Q1 exit, Perez replied: “No, no, that has nothing to do with it.

“I’m fully focused on my job, I’m fully focused on getting the performance out of myself, the form that I know what I can be and yesterday we had a very positive day – things were looking in the right direction.

“So head down and it’s a matter of time before we turn around the situation.”

Perez sits P5 in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of the British Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri and George Russell only six and seven points behind respectively.

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