Austrian GP: Christian Horner laments 'hugely frustrating' Sergio Perez after another early qualifying exit for Red Bull

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was left rueing a “frustrating” Austrian GP qualifying session for Sergio Perez, who was handed a track limits penalty despite being told to “stay in the white lines.” Perez was eliminated in Q2 on Friday, continuing a poor recent run in qualifying where he has failed to make it to Q3 in four consecutive races. Ad In Austria, while team-mate Max Verstappen took pole, Perez had three lap times wiped out for track limit infringements and will now start Sunday’s race 15th on the grid.

Austrian Grand PrixVerstappen takes Austrian GP pole ahead of Leclerc and Sainz6 HOURS AGO «He's got the pace today, he's got a car that was easily capable of being on the first or second row,” Horner told Sky Sports “He was matching Max's times, stay in the white lines! »It was strike one, strike two, 'Checo just stay in the white lines!' strike three, and that was it. "[It is] just hugely frustrating because he could have been there, he could have done it.

That's the frustration. It's fantastic that we got the pole, but it feels not complete.” Two-time world champion and runaway championship leader Verstappen took pole yet again, with Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz behind.

Verstappen complained afterwards of it being “very difficult” to judge track limits on the course and said “a lot of people were being caught out, including me.” But Horner pointed out that while the Dutchman did have lap times scrubbed off, he then posted legitimate laps to ensure he would get the job done. «At least [Max] responded to 'stay in the white lines' — he did that so he built a conservatism into his laps to make sure that he had a wheel inside the line,” said Horner.