Sergio Perez is demanding that Cadillac investigate the suspension failure that led to his retirement from the Canadian Grand Prix.
The incident occurred on lap 39 as Perez was heading into the pit lane. The front-right suspension collapsed as he exited the back straight at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. This forced him to limp back to his team’s garage.
Perez Voices Concerns Over Operational Issues
Perez described the suspension failure as a shock. He is eager for the team to identify the root cause of the problem.
“It’s something we need to investigate, understand, and hopefully get on top of, because it’s not ideal what happened,” Perez said.
Beyond the suspension issue, Perez voiced concerns about the team’s operational performance. He stated that progress was lacking and stressed the need to maximise car performance.
“Operationally, we are still lacking a lot, and we are not making progress in terms of performance, so we need to maximise the car performance at the moment,” he stated.
Impatient With Progress
Despite it being Cadillac’s fifth grand prix, Perez expressed his impatience with the team’s operational side. He believes improvements are needed urgently.
“It’s something that we have to improve, and we are in a massive hurry, because we are not maximising the results,” he said.
Perez highlighted that the operational issues extended beyond the race itself. He indicated that qualifying had also been affected.
“We are making progress on performance, which is very positive. But on the operational side, it’s something that we are lacking tremendously, and we have to really find our way for the European season now,” he added.
Tyre Gamble Backfires
Perez was one of several drivers who started the race on intermediate tyres. This decision ultimately backfired.
- Perez started on intermediate tyres, along with team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
- Other drivers who started on the same tyres included the McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
- Audi pair Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto also chose the intermediate tyres.
- Carlos Sainz of Williams was another driver on the same strategy.
Only Sainz managed to salvage a result, finishing ninth.
Perez explained the tyre choice was difficult, saying, “The laps to the grid, it felt like it was 50-50. It was really hard to choose a tyre.”
He added that the rain calmed down, making slick tyres a better option. “We took the gamble. I felt like it had stopped raining a little bit less, but it became a lot clearer that we were on the wrong tyre very early on. Within three laps, we killed the inter, and that was the biggest issue there.”
Despite the tyre issues, Perez felt he had recovered and showed good pace. He had some good fights with the Haas team, overtaking them before the suspension failure ended his race.
“But we managed to recover. We had some good pace out there, some good fights with the Haas. We overtook the Haas, and then unfortunately, we had the suspension failure at the end,” he said.