Sergio Perez says an issue with his shoulder affected his prospects during qualifying for Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Perez lacked speed throughout the three-part session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and was never in contention at the front end of the pack.
Perez languished down in eighth position, almost a second behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen, who grabbed a front-row spot.
The Mexican’s Q3 prospects were also hindered by a spin approaching Turn 13 on his first run.
He revealed after the session that he “didn’t feel 100 per cent with myself today” and attributed it to a shoulder complaint.
“It was just getting worse and worse as qualifying developed and I struggled a bit more with it.”
Perez nonetheless stressed that he has “spoken to the team and we reviewed everything, and should be back to 100 per cent tomorrow.”
Perez added that he feels it is “a matter of time” before he gets a handle on Red Bull’s RB16B during qualifying trim.
“It hasn’t been a good weekend overall,” he said.
“From my side, I think in the past you see things are starting to come, especially the pace, long-run pace, and some work to do on performance, that’s it.
“Just getting to know the car a bit more will be key.
“I didn’t get a good lap throughout the day. Q1 was looking alright but we just didn’t make any progress after that. But I wasn’t 100 per cent so it was hard to get the best out of the car in qualifying.”
