Perez's Australian GP marred by visor tear-off lodged in RB20 floor

Sergio Perez's fifth-place finish at the Australian Grand Prix belied the significant aerodynamic challenges he faced during the race.

As revealed by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, a visor tear-off had become lodged in the floor of Perez's RB20 car, causing a substantial loss of downforce.

"We went long on the first stint,"

Horner explained.

"And his actual pace when he was coming through the field on the hard tyre as he closed in on Fernando was strong, and matching that of the leaders. "

"And then literally as he's passed Fernando, he's picked up a tear-off underneath the floor and it's got lodged in an area that's caused significant load loss."

Horner quantified the downforce deficit at over 20 points, highlighting the sensitivity of modern Formula 1 cars to even minor aerodynamic disruptions.

"It just shows how sensitive these things are,"

he added.

Race progression

Perez's race began on a challenging note, with a three-place grid penalty for impeding during qualifying dropping him to sixth on the starting grid.

Despite this setback, he managed to recover and overtake Fernando Alonso, only for the tear-off issue to emerge immediately afterwards.

"So as he's then passed Fernando, the car's not working as it should. And so then you start to see degradation on the tyre, and again at the end of the second stint, which has been unusual for our cars,"

Horner elaborated, underscoring the impact on Perez's race strategy and tyre management.

Missed opportunity or Ferrari's superiority?

When asked if Perez could have challenged the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc without the grid penalty, Horner remained uncertain.

"Difficult to say,"

he admitted.

"For sure he's been compromised when he's picked up the issue with the floor. I think they were maybe just a bit, maybe a bit too quick today, but you never know."

Track characteristics: A Red Bull weakness?

Perez himself attributed Red Bull's relative lack of pace to the characteristics of the Albert Park circuit.

"I think it's probably tarmac-related,"

the Mexican driver said.

"If you remember Vegas, we were already struggling last year. So I think there's something in it that."

"We just have to make sure we work hard to try and understand what the issues are."

He drew parallels with Max Verstappen's early overtaking by the Ferraris, suggesting a team-wide struggle at the Australian Grand Prix venue.

In conclusion, Sergio Perez's Australian Grand Prix was heavily compromised by an innocuous visor tear-off lodged in a critical aerodynamic area of his RB20 car.

Despite his and the team's efforts, the significant loss of downforce hindered his race pace, tyre management, and overall performance, potentially costing him a better result against the front-running Ferraris.