Sergio Perez explains what went wrong in woeful F1 Qatar sprint qualifying

Sergio Perez endured another terrible session in qualifying for the sprint race in Qatar.

The under-fire Red Bull driver could only manage the 16th-fastest time on Friday in Qatar.

He was eliminated in the first part of qualifying for the second weekend in a row.

Asked what went wrong, Perez explained: “Unfortunately we left 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.

“Then Charles Leclerc 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.”

Perez was asked if he was confident about making progress through the grid from 16th.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult,” he admitted.

“For now we will focus on the rest of the weekend. In such a short race I don't think there will be a lot that we can do. But yeah, we will try.”

Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen was sixth in sprint qualifying at the F1 Qatar Grand Prix.

Perez might be relieved to see RB driver Yuki Tsunoda, one of the contenders to replace him at Red Bull, only 17th.

Tsunoda’s teammate Liam Lawson was 10th.

The RB pair, and Williams’ Franco Colapinto, are among the drivers being considered to replace Perez at Red Bull in 2025.

Desperately requiring a big round, his weekend in Qatar has started in the worst possible way with a drab performance in sprint qualifying.

The sprint race, then qualifying for the grand prix, are on Saturday.