Perez blames Leclerc for Sprint qualifying pain

Another qualifying, another bust for Red Bull's beleaguered driver Sergio Perez, although the Mexican blamed his early exit from Friday's Sprint qualifying in Qatar on an on-track clash with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Perez's final lap in SQ1 set him up to miss the SQ2 cut by just 0.013 seconds, finishing behind Alex Albon and Liam Lawson.

Reflecting on his misfortune, the Mexican driver expressed frustration over the incident with Leclerc that cost him valuable time.

“We left a little bit late,” a dismissive Perez said after the session. “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, and lost a couple of tenths there, enough to be knocked out unfortunately.”

• Qatar GP - Sprint Shootout results

Despite a tough start to the Qatar weekend, Perez noted that the team had made progress with the car following a challenging FP1 session, where he finished a lowly 18th.

“It was a shame because I felt like we really progressed with the car from P1 to qualifying,” he added. “We had a lot more potential and it's a shame that we just ended up here.”

With limited expectations for the Sprint race, Perez hinted at a strategic shift to prioritize a stronger showing in Sunday's Grand Prix.

“The Sprint is going to be very difficult,” he admitted, underscoring the uphill battle he faces in the shorter race format.

On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Max Verstappen concluded qualifying P6 and also expressed dissatisfaction with his car's performance at Lusail.

The three-time World Champion acknowledged challenges with the RB19's balance, which hindered his ability to compete with the front-runners.

“The Sprint will probably be tough to fight the cars around me with just the balance that I have in the car,” he said. “For the other qualifying, let's see if we can improve the situation a bit.”

Verstappen, who was three-tenths off polesitter Lando Norris, admitted he doesn't foresee a major turnaround before Sunday.

“I don't expect it to suddenly be turned upside down and that it works. It's not been amazing, let's say that,” he added.

“Just no pace, to be honest. Just slow. I just don't really have the balance to attack the entry to mid-corner. The car is just a bit off, so it makes it really difficult around here.

“The very high speed is okay, but everything else is not okay, and that makes it difficult to push. I think P6 is more or less where we should be, maybe P7 actually. “It's, of course, not where you want to be.”

As Red Bull grapples with performance limitations at Lusail, both drivers will be looking to regroup ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix, hoping to salvage stronger results from a difficult start to the weekend.

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