Perez blames SQ1 exit on Leclerc fight

Sergio Perez says being caught in a fight with Charles Leclerc on his final flying lap cost him enough time to be knocked out in SQ1 at the Qatar Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver was already close to the drop zone when he started his final attempt, but had Leclerc on his inside on the run to the first corner. Perez managed to stay ahead around the outside and continue his lap but his improvement wasn’t big enough to pull him clear of danger and he ended up being eliminated by just 0.013s.

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“Unfortunately we left a little bit late,” Perez explained. “We had an issue with one of the anti-roll bars, and then to get my final lap we were all opening gaps and then Charles came and we were fighting into Turn 1 and so on, so we lost a couple of tenths there.

“It was enough to be knocked out, which was a shame because I thought we really progressed with the car from P1 to qualifying -- we had a lot more potential and it's a shame that we just ended up here.”

Starting from 16th in a Sprint race that doesn’t feature any pit stops, Perez admits it’s unlikely he will be able to pull himself into points contention, with only the top eight cars scoring.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult. For now we will focus on the rest of the weekend," he said. "In such a short race I don't think there will be a lot that we can do. But yeah, we will try.”

It also wasn’t a particularly strong session for newly crowned world champion Max Verstappen in the other Red Bull, as he qualified sixth for the Sprint and feels his weekend is likely to be a struggle.

“Just no pace, to be honest,” Verstappen said. “Too slow -- I just don't really have the balance to attack. Entry to mid-corner the car is just a bit off, so that makes it really difficult around there. The very high speed is OK, but everything else is not OK and that makes it just difficult to push. I think P6 is more or less where we should be, maybe even P7 actually, but that’s of course not where you want to be.

“The Sprint, probably it will be tough to fight the cars around me just with the balance I have in the car. Then for the other qualifying, let’s see if we can improve the situation a bit, but I don’t suddenly expect it to be turned upside down and then it works. It’s not been amazing, let’s say it like that.”