Sergio Perez says he “struggled a lot for balance” throughout qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix as he slumped to another Q2 exit.
Having endured a disastrous weekend last time out in Japan, Perez was bidding to bounce back upon Formula 1’s second-ever visit to the Lusail International Circuit.
However, Perez was eliminated in the second stage of qualifying for the eighth time this year after having his best Q2 lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 5.
Even before the stewards removed his quickest effort at the end of the session, the Mexican had only managed to clock a time good enough for 10th fastest, a considerable way behind team-mate Max Verstappen.
The under-pressure Red Bull driver lamented encountering difficulties with his RB19 car during Friday evening’s qualifying session.
“It was quite difficult, we struggled a lot for balance,” he rued.
“Basically we had so many issues trying to fit… every corner was pretty much different, I think the conditions are very difficult. Yeah, just struggled a lot today in qualifying.”
The Sprint format this weekend will provide Perez with the opportunity to make amends in a second qualifying session tomorrow.
However, looking ahead to Sunday’s race, Perez, who is set to start 13th, expects the challenging track conditions to make coming through the field tougher than usual.
“It’s not over, it’s obviously going to be very difficult to pass, especially with the track conditions we currently have, but we’ll see what we are able to do and recover from there,” he added.
Verstappen, meanwhile, only required one run in Q3 to secure his 10th pole position of 2023. The Dutchman can secure the Drivers’ title if he outscores Perez by three points in Saturday’s truncated Sprint Race encounter.
Perez will line up 10 places behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who is the Mexican’s closest challenger for second place in the standings. The pair are separated by only 33 points.
