Perez powerless to prevent Austrian GP 'disaster'

Sergio Perez has labelled his Austrian Grand Prix a "disaster of a race" to compound his ongoing F1 woes.

The 34-year-old finished seventh at the Red Bull Ring, sandwiched between Haas duo Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, with the former holding off the Red Bull driver in the closing stages.

After qualifying in eighth position, the six-time grand prix winner explained contact with Oscar Piastri at the start ruined his race before it had managed to get into full swing.

“There was a lot of damage on the sidepod,” the Mexican driver told media including RacingNews365 after yet another disappointing result.

“I think I touched a bit with [Oscar] Piastri into Turn 4 [on lap one]. 

“It was unfortunate because we had a good start but from then on the car was just nowhere, on a knife edge. Nothing I could do, I was just off-balance.“

Perez had 'no hope' of fighting for more

Including the Austrian Grand Prix sprint, Perez has scored just 15 points in the previous five race weekends. 

Despite his collision with Lando Norris, team-mate Max Verstappen was still able to bring his RB20 home in fifth.

To make matters worse for Perez, he incurred a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane which left him to battle with the Haas cars in the lower reaches of the points.

Affected by his damaged Red Bull, Perez felt he had "no hope" of fighting for anything more.

"Also with making the mistake on the way into the pit lane with the pit limiter, it was just a disaster of a race that started really well," he said.

"But I think we're just lacking so much pace out there. There was no hope for fighting people."