Damon Hill believes Red Bull are fighting "one-legged" due to the lack of pace from Sergio Perez.
The Mexican, who this week signed a new deal with the Austrian outfit, hasn't been able to consistently match Max Verstappen's pace - or even get close. Often Perez has found himself someway down the order, owing to poor performances in qualifying that leave him having to battle through the field.
McLaren and Ferrari have consistently seen two drivers near the front, allowing them to play strategy effectively. Verstappen, who has been challenged by the likes of Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, has largely had to fight singlehandedly.
Hill told the F1 Nation podcast: “Don’t forget they [Ferrari and McLaren] have both got two drivers who can attack. I’m not sure you can say that of Checo. [They’re] a little bit one-legged at the moment, Red Bull, if they want to defend. It’s no good being three-tenths away from Verstappen anymore, because so many cars can jump in that gap. The gaps have become smaller and smaller.”
In Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix the Dutchman will line-up in second, behind Mercedes' George Russell. Behind them on the second row both McLaren drivers will look to launch an attack. Ferrari endured a horror Saturday, but both drivers are usually near the front.
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Perez though had another forgettable qualifying session and he'll be unable to aid Verstappen in Montreal having missed out in Q1, meaning he lines up in 16th. Recently the Mexican found himself lining up on the eighth row of the grid at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Reflecting on Saturday's poor showing the Red Bull man said: “It was a total disaster. I just couldn’t get the grip in. I think it was a very strange session for a lot of cars out there, and for us, I just couldn’t get the tyres to switch on. It was taking a while to really switch on the tyre, and that was a total disaster.”
The Mexican has continued to underwhelm in qualifyingTeam boss Helmut Marko concedes that the Mexican driver's struggles are very much in his head with Verstappen proving that the car is more than capable of performing.
He said on ServusTV: "It's not the car, you can see that with Max. I think it's more psychological. It was close, and when the conditions change, he finds it much more difficult. But the fact that it's already the third time (not in Q3) is painful."
Christian Horner added on his driver's poor performance in qualifying: "It was disappointing for Checo to miss out by such a small margin in Q1 as he struggled with the rear grip in the car. We’ll have to look into the reasons for that so that we can give him the best chance of coming through the field tomorrow, which we know he’s capable of."
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