Red Bull driver Sergio Perez has admitted that “fighting” on track with Charles Leclerc resulted in his latest qualifying exit at the Qatar Grand Prix.
And he revealed that an issue with the anti-roll bars on his Red Bull RB20 left him in that situation, having delayed his exit from the garage in the closing minutes over the session.
Sergio Perez to start Qatar GP sprint from 16th after latest qualifying failure
Despite signing a new two-year contract in June, Perez finds himself fighting to save his Red Bull seat after a disastrous season with the Mexican still without a podium since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.
After being classified 18th in FP1 in Qatar, Perez fell in the first segment of sprint qualifying having lapped only 16th, seven tenths slower than team-mate Max Verstappen.
Television replays after SQ1 showed Perez ‘racing’ Leclerc’s Ferrari on the main straight as the pair began their final laps, with the drivers fighting for track position through the first few corners.
Sergio Perez vs Max Verstappen: Red Bull head-to-head statistics for F1 2024
👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates
👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
Leclerc went on to qualify fifth, marginally slower than Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz.
Perez was heard commenting over team radio after the skirmish: “I don’t know what Leclerc was doing there.”
Speaking after the session, Perez estimated that his clash with Leclerc cost him around two tenths, revealing that a delayed exit from the garage left him fighting for track position at the climax of SQ1.
He said: “Unfortunately, we left [the garage] a little bit late. 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.
“We were fighting into Turn 1 and so on, lost a couple of tenths there, enough to be knocked out unfortunately.
“It was a shame because I felt like we really progressed with the car from FP1 to qualifying.
“We had a lot more potential, and it’s a shame that we just ended up here.”
Asked about his prospects for Saturday’s sprint race, he added: “I think it’s going to be very difficult. I think, from now, we will focus on the rest of the weekend.
“In such a short race I don’t think there will be a lot we can do, but we will try.”
PlanetF1.com understands that Perez is now highly likely to be replaced by Red Bull at the end of the F1 2024 season.
The 34-year-old trails Verstappen, who secured a fourth consecutive World Championship in Las Vegas last weekend, by a massive 251 points with two races remaining.
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