Perez Blames Ocon for Austria Sprint Qualifying Mishap; Red Bull Criticized for Radio Silence

Sergio Perez holds Esteban Ocon responsible, yet Red Bull was instructed to "criticize him over the radio!"

“Sadly, I have no idea what Esteban was thinking."

Sergio Perez accused Esteban Ocon of being at fault following the sprint qualifying session in Austria, though Martin Brundle criticized Perez's approach on Friday.

Red Bull's Perez had to finish his fastest qualifying lap while trailing the sluggish Alpine driven by Ocon, as the session's time was nearly up.

Perez secured the seventh spot in qualifying, just ahead of Ocon, while his teammate Max Verstappen took the pole position.

Perez commented to Sky Sports later, "I believe we were competitive today."

"Regrettably, I'm not aware of Esteban's actions. It seems he needed to drive at a very slow pace."

"I completed my last lap just half a second behind him. Essentially, there was no opportunity…"

"It's disappointing because our speed looked promising, but we couldn't fully take advantage of it today."

"Today, we should have been contenders, but due to factors beyond our control, we didn't achieve our desired position."

However, Brundle responded by saying, "The issue could have been avoided if the team had sent him onto the track sooner."

"They were trying to support it, but clearly made a mistake."

"I don't get it. They have data, and the pitwall is informing them. We were alerted about it. George Russell's engineer mentioned that some would not cross the line in time."

"Isn't it rather absurd that they miss the lap? Why do they wait until the last minute?"

"By pushing the car to its limits, they risk ruining their chances of completing a successful lap, even if they exceed the boundaries."

"It's really hard for me to believe that they would delay for such a long time."

Bernie Collins commented, “Ocon and Pierre Gasly were using worn tires. Perez, in a Red Bull car, is definitely much quicker.”

"Someone needs to be urging him over the radio to overtake that vehicle!"

"He isn't actually 1.3 seconds slower than Verstappen, even though that's what the timesheet indicates. This discrepancy is because he completed the entire lap trailing an Alpine car and using a worn set of tires."

Red Bull surpasses McLaren

During the initial day of their home event at the Red Bull Ring, Red Bull took the lead over their closest rival, McLaren.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri secured second and third positions in the sprint race qualifiers, trailing Verstappen.

"When everyone is giving their all, they end up behind me," Verstappen remarked. "So they have speed as well."

"It was great to see that we had good speed, which is important on this track."

"The sprint race will provide an initial insight into the speed of each car for the grand prix."

The Formula 1 champion stated, "To be frank, it was a good day."

"I feel joyful. Our day began positively, and the car was performing optimally."

"We encountered a minor issue with the sensor, but we resolved it promptly."

"Going into the qualifying round, the vehicle performed well. I was able to accelerate."

"We recognize that there are always opportunities for improvement, and we will evaluate those areas this evening."

"Certainly a positive way to kick off the weekend."

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