Sergio Perez struggled to produce strong lap in yesterday’s Sprint qualifying, failing to reach the top 10 positions. The 6-time race winner has explained what he believes complicated his chances at the Circuit of the Americas.
Perez: RB20 “took a step back” after SQ1
With Red Bull assessing Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda as potential Red Bull candidates for 2025, Perez was looking for a strong start to the American GP.
This did not come, with the Mexican driver unable to qualify for SQ3.
In a session where Max Verstappen went fastest to secure a P1 grid slot in the Sprint Race, this result is obviously a blow.
However, Sergio Perez has ideas on the issues limiting him in Sprint qualifying:
“Yeah, very frustrating. Especially from SQ1 to SQ2, we didn’t have any progressing.
“If anything we took a step back with the tyres. So that made things a lot trickier, unfortunately.
“Hopefully we’re able to learn quite a bit from the car [in the Sprint], and make sure that in [Saturday] qualifying we’re able to put it all together.”
Theory emerges for Sprint qualifying struggles
When asked for specifics, Perez pointed to ride height:
“I think, certainly a bit with the ride issues in high-speed. Something we will have a look [at].
“Our long-run pace looked very promising this morning, so I think we’ve got some work to do for the rest of the weekend.
“The main target is to be strong in the race.”
Recovering in the Sprint Race will be difficult for Perez, especially considering that Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren all look competitive.
Much like in 2024 so far, Red Bull will look to Verstappen for their points in tomorrow’s Sprint.
On the other side of the garage, the expectation for Perez will be to recover in qualifying for the main race and contribute in the fight against McLaren.
