Qualifying fix key to keeping Ferrari in the title race – Leclerc

Charles Leclerc is not writing off his drivers’ championship hopes this early into the season, but says Ferrari needs to find answers to its qualifying problems quickly to keep him in contention. Ferrari entered this year expecting to challenge for …

Charles Leclerc is not writing off his drivers’ championship hopes this early into the season, but says Ferrari needs to find answers to its qualifying problems quickly to keep him in contention.

Ferrari entered this year expecting to challenge for both titles after falling just 14 points short of winning the constructors’ championship last season, but has struggled so far and Leclerc’s third place in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was its first podium of 2025. Leclerc finished just eight points behind race winner Oscar Piastri after showing strong performance, but says qualifying fourth was the most costly issue that the team needs to resolve.

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“I think we are close on race pace,” Leclerc said. “I think free air dictates who is going to win the race a little bit. That’s always been the case. Maybe this year a little bit more than other years. And obviously when that is the case, qualifying is more important. But unfortunately, for two years, we are just struggling in qualifying to put everything together.

“This weekend the problem is it’s not always the same issue. This time it was four tenths in the first three corners. For the rest of the lap, we were fast. And in the race, actually, the first sector was probably the best sector we had. So we’ve got to look at that.

“Obviously, there are answers in what we are doing, and we are doing something wrong, clearly. We’ve got to find it. We cannot lose too many races before finding it because we’re already 50 points down in the drivers’ championship. We’re not looking at it too much, but 50 points is a big number. I don’t want to be losing more points than that in the next few races.”

Leclerc ran long on medium tires and led for a spell before making a later pit stop for hards than many of his rivals, allowing him to climb into the top three. Keen to praise the way Ferrari executed on both Saturday and Sunday, he believes it is only car performance that is lacking.

“I feel like we’ve maximized absolutely everything we could have this weekend – there wasn’t anything more in the car,” Leclerc said. “I think we need to focus on qualifying because it’s been a very long time I haven’t been as happy with the car balance. I feel very at ease with the car in a way that I know I can extract the maximum out of the car more often than not, but unfortunately, the car potential is just not good enough to fight for better in qualifying.

“In the race, the good car balance had results. We were all surprised by our pace in free air on the first stint. That was really good. Everything else was perfectly executed. Strategy was great. Pit stops have been great the whole season and also the whole of last year as well. There wasn’t much more we could have done.”

Leclerc, Hamilton and Gasly China disqualifications confirmed

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly have all been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix for failing post-race technical checks. Leclerc and Gasly were found to be underweight by 1kg per car, with both Ferrari and Alpine admitting …

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly have all been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix for failing post-race technical checks.

Leclerc and Gasly were found to be underweight by 1kg per car, with both Ferrari and Alpine admitting that there were no mitigating factors for their infringements.

“During the hearing there was no challenge to the FIA’s measurements which are taken to be correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly,” the stewards wrote relating to both teams. “There are no mitigating circumstances and that the team confirmed that it was a genuine error by them.”

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Hamilton’s car was cited for having excessive wear to the rearward skids, and Ferrari similarly admitted there was no reason other than a setup mistake that had led to the issue.

“During the hearing the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly,” the stewards repeated. “The team also acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team.”

Both Ferraris being disqualified had a significant impact on the final points as Leclerc and Hamilton had originally finished fifth and sixth respectively. Esteban Ocon is now promoted to fifth for Haas ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Alex Albon, with Ollie Bearman, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz rounding out the points.

Gasly would have profited from the Ferrari infringements having originally crossed the line 11th, but for his own disqualification that leaves Alpine as the only team yet to score a point this season.

Ferraris, Gasly face potential disqualification from Chinese GP

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly are all at risk of being disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix after issues with their cars were found in post-race scrutineering. Leclerc had impressively finished fifth after damaging his front …

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly are all at risk of being disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix after issues with their cars were found in post-race scrutineering.

Leclerc had impressively finished fifth after damaging his front wing on the opening lap when making contact with teammate Hamilton, and executing a one-stop race that led to him finishing ahead of Hamilton who made a second stop. While the damage naturally makes the car lighter, teams are allowed to replace obviously damaged parts, and after weighing the Ferrari with the missing endplate, it was also weighed with a spare front wing fitted. Once fuel was drained, it was underweight on both occasions.

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“After the race, car number 16 was weighed and its weight was 800.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1,” FIA technical Jo Bauer wrote. “As the front wing was damaged (the missing FW endplate was recovered and weighed with the car), the car was re-weighed with an official spare front wing assembly of car 16 and its weight was 800.5 kg.

“After this, fuel was drained out of the car and 2.0 liters of fuel were removed. The car was drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality document. The car was weighed again on the FIA scales (with the official spare front wing assembly of car 16) and the weight was 799.0 kg. The calibration of the scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. For information the spare front wing was 0.2 kg heavier than the damaged one used during the race.

“As this is 1.0 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”

Pierre Gasly’s Alpine was also found to be underweight. Sam Bloxham/Getty Images

Leclerc’s car was not alone in being referred to the stewards for being underweight, with the Alpine of Gasly also being weighed at 799.0kg once fuel was removed, with both cars at risk of disqualification for breaching technical regulations.

George Russell was disqualified for a similar issue after winning the Belgian Grand Prix last year, with Mercedes speculating that excessive tire wear could have been at play. Gasly completed the longest stint to the finish of the race with 46 laps on his hard tires as he crossed the line 11th, while Leclerc’s final stint was 41 laps.

Although Hamilton’s car complied with the weight limit, scrutineering showed his rearmost skid thickness to below the minimum limit of 9mm, registering 8.6mm at two points and 8.5mm at another. Both Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified from the 2023 United States Grand Prix for similar issues.

Should all three drivers be excluded from the results, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz stand to be promoted into the points from 12th and 13th respectively, while Esteban Ocon, Kimi Antonelli, Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman would also all benefit.

Leclerc tops Abu Dhabi F1 test, Sainz second-fastest on Williams debut

Charles Leclerc set the pace ahead of former teammate Carlos Sainz as the 2024 Formula 1 season came to a conclusion with testing in Abu Dhabi. All teams were allowed to run two cars at the one-day test, one for a rookie driver who has started no …

Charles Leclerc set the pace ahead of former teammate Carlos Sainz as the 2024 Formula 1 season came to a conclusion with testing in Abu Dhabi.

All teams were allowed to run two cars at the one-day test, one for a rookie driver who has started no more than two grands prix, and one for tire testing purposes for Pirelli. Leclerc was taking part in the entire day for Ferrari and topped the times with a 1m23.510, beating Sainz on his first official outing for Williams by 0.125s.

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Sainz had taken part in a filming day for Williams on Monday at the Yas Marina Circuit, but that took place on demonstration tires and with limited mileage. Tuesday was his first chance to really drive the FW46 in anger, and the Spaniard enjoyed an extremely productive day, completing 146 laps and spending most of it at the top of the timing screens.

Of more importance to Sainz was the opportunity to feel the differences between the Williams and Ferrari cars, and get used to procedures and settings, allowing him to provide feedback for areas to work on over the winter. The same can be said of Nico Hulkenberg on his first appearance for Sauber, with the German fourth fastest with a 1m23.789 and one of multiple drivers to exceed 100 laps.

While Hulkenberg was getting used to a new way of working after leaving Haas, he ended up sandwiched between two drivers in familiar machinery as Mercedes pair George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were third and fifth respectively. Antonelli had been due to drive for the entire day but an illness had ruled him out of the final Formula 2 weekend and he was still recovering, so reserve driver Fred Vesti was behind the wheel for the morning, before Antonelli managed 62 laps after lunch.

Pato O’Ward had another strong outing for McLaren with the seventh fastest time and 116 laps under his belt, at a track where he struggled with his neck on his testing debut back in 2021. O’Ward drove for the entire day while McLaren split running in the tire test car between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Alpine pair Jack Doohan and Paul Aron also drove for the full day, with Aron making his debut in current machinery just over a week after being confirmed as an Alpine reserve driver for 2025. The Estonian – who was third in this year’s F2 championship – only received the nod to drive on Sunday night but ended up 0.007s off Doohan’s best time and completed 121 laps to his team-mate’s 137.

Rounding out the top ten was the driver Doohan replaced, with Esteban Ocon making his debut for Haas. The Frenchman had to wait 15 minutes before starting his running but managed over 100 laps and posted a best time of 1m24.305.

There were other notable performances from rookies Luke Browning and Ryo Hirakawa in 11th and 12th for Williams and Haas respectively, while Liam Lawson in 13th had the highest lap count with 159 on what could well prove to be his last outing for RB. RACER understands Lawson is set to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull, once an agreement is reached regarding the latter’s departure.

That news will be a disappointment to Yuki Tsunoda who had his first outing in current Red Bull machinery and managed 127 laps during tire testing, ending up just 0.011s slower than Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner Norris. The McLaren driver was also responsible for one of the few yellow flags during a remarkably clean day of running, spinning at Turn 14 in the morning session.

The only other interruptions were a Virtual Safety Car required to clear debris from Turn 7 mid-afternoon, and a spin for Isack Hadjar at the same corner before a very late red flag briefly interrupted proceedings for a barrier check in the final sector.

From an American perspective, Jak Crawford made his debut in the 2024 Aston Martin as part of the young driver testing and set a 1m24.997, edging out Felipe Drugovich in the sister car by 0.017s.

‘It hurts’ – Leclerc’s comeback charge not enough for Ferrari title

Charles Leclerc admits the pain of missing out on the constructors’ championship with Ferrari outweighs the pride at his remarkable recovery drive in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Leclerc started 19th on the grid due to a power unit penalty and poor …

Charles Leclerc admits the pain of missing out on the constructors’ championship with Ferrari outweighs the pride at his remarkable recovery drive in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Leclerc started 19th on the grid due to a power unit penalty and poor qualifying, leaving Ferrari with only a remote chance of overturning a 21-point deficit to McLaren with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri starting on the front row. A dramatic opening lap saw Piastri hit by Max Verstappen and Leclerc gain 11 positions to run in the top eight, going on to finish third behind teammate Carlos Sainz as Norris held on for the victory.

“I’m really happy about the race, but the disappointment is a lot bigger,” Leclerc said. “You don’t win or lose a championship in the last race — obviously, it’s over the course of the season and after every single race and McLaren has just done a better job than us. Congratulations to them.

“But it obviously hurts when you get to the last race. You know there’s an opportunity. It was a very difficult weekend, obviously, already with the penalty on Friday. It was never going to be easy. But after such a good first lap, the hopes were high. And yeah, we just came short of our dream, which was to win the constructors’. So it hurts.”

Leclerc’s brilliant first lap including a triple overtake around the outside of Turn 6 as he quickly moved himself inside the top 10, and he says he knew he had to take risks to give Ferrari any hope of overhauling McLaren.

A magic first lap from Leclerc cut through many of his obstacles on the way to the front. Motorsport Images

“I knew I had to be very aggressive, so I knew that in lap 1, I had to take all the risks possible in order to gain as many places as possible, to then be in a good position for the rest of the race,” he said. “This I achieved, but then, unfortunately, we were just starting too far back to do anything better than what we’ve done today.

“I think we’ve done the maximum. It hurts, obviously, because the season was so close until the end. It was a hard hit on Friday when we knew we had the penalty. We still gave it all and we just came short of our goal, which is a shame. But at the end, we’ve tried everything.”

Sainz was closer to Norris throughout his final race for Ferrari but couldn’t quite keep in touch with the McLaren, and he admits his car didn’t quite have the performance to secure the win it required.

“Obviously, a bit of a bittersweet feeling in the end,” Sainz said. “P2, I think, was the maximum we could do today, given the pace of Lando in the McLaren. I gave it everything, especially the first stint. It looked like we could hang on to them. Then as soon as we put the hard tires, they just seemed to be that one or two tenths quicker per lap, like we’ve seen all weekend, and they just got a bit out of reach.

“Congratulations, first of all, to McLaren. They deserve this championship. They’ve been rock solid in the last two-thirds of the championship — they’ve been incredible. From our side. I think we can be proud of the effort and the championship we put together. It’s been a tough year, but definitely a year where we need to be proud of, and hopefully I’ll be back here soon.”

 

Back row motivates me to do something very special – Leclerc

Charles Leclerc views his back row starting position due to a grid penalty and a track limits violation as a motivating factor for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Ferrari had to give Leclerc a new energy store after Friday, resulting in a 10-place grid …

Charles Leclerc views his back row starting position due to a grid penalty and a track limits violation as a motivating factor for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Ferrari had to give Leclerc a new energy store after Friday, resulting in a 10-place grid penalty that ensured the best starting position he could secure was 11th on the grid. Leclerc looked competitive in qualifying but then had his best Q2 lap deleted for exceeding track limits, resulting in him dropping out early and starting on the back row.

“[I feel] not so good after a qualifying like that,” Leclerc said. “We were a little bit better. It’s true that I don’t think we would have managed to beat the McLarens — they seemed too strong — but we could have been fourth. It was either P15 or P20 and P15 is better than P20. But if I get my lap time deleted it means we start from P20.

“We are not making our life any easier. However, it motivates me to do something very special tomorrow. My goal remains the same: it’s to win the constructors’ championship. And I still believe in it as much as I did yesterday, even though on paper obviously it’s going to be hard.”

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Admitting the track limits violation was simply his own mistake, Leclerc says he is still believing Ferrari can overturn a 21-point deficit against McLaren to win the constructors’ title, despite Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locking out the front row.

“It’s very difficult [to judge Turn 1] — it’s obviously very difficult,” he said. “But it’s very difficult for everybody and I was on the wrong side of things in Q2 so I can only blame myself.

“The race pace was OK, but McLaren seemed to be a lot stronger. We’ve changed the car quite a bit since FP3. I think we went in the right direction. If anything our tire degradation is better than others, so I would expect to be in a better position.

“I believe in miracles. It makes our life very difficult, that’s for sure. But with the 10-place grid penalty it was always going to be difficult. But I see an opportunity to do something very special and I’ll do my best to do it. I’ll believe in it until the very last lap. Anything can happen.”

10-place grid penalty for Leclerc hits Ferrari title hopes

Ferrari’s chances of winning the Formula 1 constructors’ championship have taken a hit as Charles Leclerc will take a grid penalty at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Leclerc failed to run in the first part of FP1 due to a power unit issue, and Ferrari …

Ferrari’s chances of winning the Formula 1 constructors’ championship have taken a hit as Charles Leclerc will take a grid penalty at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Leclerc failed to run in the first part of FP1 due to a power unit issue, and Ferrari later confirmed it had needed to change his energy store to get him out on track. With that move Leclerc exceeded his maximum number of permitted components and as it’s the first time he has taken an item outside of his allocation, it carries a 10-place grid penalty.

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Ferrari already faced a tall order to try and overhaul McLaren at the final race of the season, with the Scuderia trailing by 21 points with a maximum of 44 points available. Leclerc’s second place in the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend had closed the gap to less than a race victory.

Leclerc did finish the first practice session fastest overall at Yas Marina Circuit, having taken part in FP1 alongside his brother Arthur, who posted the 18th-fastest time.

Two other grid penalties have also been triggered by Williams, with both cars exceeding the maximum permitted number of gearbox components, leading to a five-place drop for each of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto.

Drivers throw support behind GM F1 entry

A number of the Formula 1 drivers have backed General Motors’ arrival in the sport with the Cadillac brand, with the likes of Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen open to future race seat opportunities with the team. F1 announced it is working …

A number of the Formula 1 drivers have backed General Motors’ arrival in the sport with the Cadillac brand, with the likes of Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen open to future race seat opportunities with the team.

F1 announced it is working towards GM joining the grid in 2026, whereby the team will run under the Cadillac name and use a customer power unit deal until its own works engine is ready in 2028. Its addition will expand the field to 11 teams and 22 cars, and Lewis Hamilton said it will also provide extra positions for engineers and mechanics as well as drivers. 

“I think it’s great,” Hamilton said. “I’ve always been super supportive of having another team; more cars on the grid. To think of how many more job opportunities that is… I’m so happy to hear that it’s happening.” 

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Hamilton is one of the drivers who has raced in a grid of more than 20 cars in the past – the last year being 2016 when the Manor team was last competing – and Fernando Alonso similarly backed a project that includes some of his former colleagues such as technical director Nick Chester, advisor Pat Symonds and COO Rob White.

“Eleventh team, 22 drivers, it’s not the first time that we will be 22 on the grid,” Alonso said. “It’s a complex decision for the sport in general but if they came to that conclusion it’s because it’s the best for everybody. I will always support whatever management think that is the best.

“For the team personnel, they have a couple of people that were in the Renault days and for sure they will have a huge contribution right now at the very early part of the project, with a lot of experience in Formula 1 and in the sport. So I wish the best of luck. A new team is never an easy task, but I think they will be well prepared and they have the right people.”

For many of the younger drivers it will be the first time they race on a grid of more than 20 F1 cars, and Charles Leclerc said that provides more chances for up-and-coming driving talent, too.

“It’s the first time in my career that I’ll be 22 on the grid in F1, and that’s exciting,” Leclerc said. “I also think that there are lots of young drivers waiting for a place in Formula 1, and that will obviously give more opportunities to very talented young drivers that are dreaming to get into Formula 1. So for that, this is a good thing, and cool to have two more cars on the grid.”

Pierre Gasly echoed Leclerc’s sentiments, and emphasized benefits from a racing spectacle point of view.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “It’s going to be my first time to race with 22 cars in F1. So more rivals, probably more action, more racing. So, exciting times. I think it’s been a long topic for quite a long time. So I’m sure if they came to that conclusion, definitely means it’s the best for the sport. So I’m excited about it.”

But it’s not just young drivers who are excited by the prospect. Bottas is out of a seat at the end of this year and said he has spoken to GM already about his availability for 2026.

“I think that’s just increased the chances of getting a seat for 2026, which ultimately is the goal,” Bottas said. “But if not, then there’s lots of other cool things in other series.

“Yes (I’ve had talks), I think for sure I’m not the only one, but of course, it’s interesting for me, and I think it’s great for F1. Great brand, GM is a big backer behind it so, for sure, it’s an interesting project.”

Magnussen is another who is set to drop off the grid next year, and he has history with the manufacturer after racing a Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac in IMSA in 2021.

“Absolutely, I think it’s exciting to see,” Magnussen said. “It’s a proper competitor coming in, a great name and an OEM who’s going to come in with guns blazing and throw everything at it I’m sure. So it’s exciting for the sport, exciting for the driver market, for the grid.

“You never know of course. I have driven for the factory before in IMSA, it was the factory Cadillac that I drove there, so I know the management, I know the people there. They know me. So you don’t know.”

Along with those more experienced names, Zhou Guanyu – who scored his first points of the season in Qatar on Sunday – has links to the GM entry’s advisory team, and says he’s also looking at the new constructor as a potential opportunity to get back on the grid in just over a year’s time.

“I’m fully aware that GM and also Cadillac joined the grid,” Zhou said. “I think it’s very good for the sport in general because a lot of people are always talking about having not enough seats for the people, the young drivers available. Clearly, I think we have a lot of young drivers for next year. 

“From my position, it’s a great opportunity and a great chance for next season when I’m not having a seat. So I can probably think about what the future will be and try to have an opportunity there. So I’m aware of that.

“But everything was just only announced this week. We still need to go through further details a bit more on that. But for me, my priority is trying to have another chance of coming back on the grid. So for me, I don’t really have where I go, but if there’s a chance to grab, I will absolutely take it.”

Leclerc surprised by Ferrari gains on McLaren in Qatar

Charles Leclerc says he would have signed up for a second place in the Qatar Grand Prix ahead of the race after being surprised by Ferrari’s ability to take points off McLaren. Max Verstappen held of Lando Norris in a close fight for the majority of …

Charles Leclerc says he would have signed up for a second place in the Qatar Grand Prix ahead of the race after being surprised by Ferrari’s ability to take points off McLaren.

Max Verstappen held of Lando Norris in a close fight for the majority of Sunday’s race, with Leclerc running third after multiple safety car periods. Norris then received a penalty that dropped him out of contention and after beating Oscar Piastri to second place, Leclerc was delighted to close the gap in the constructors’ championship to 21 points.

“Honestly, I would have signed straight away if I had a paper that told me that we will finish second after a weekend like this, especially on a track like this, because our car characteristics are not fitting very well with this track,” Leclerc said. “We knew it was going to be a very difficult weekend compared to the McLaren, but at the end, we managed to take some points away from them. So the fight will be all the way to the last race in Abu Dhabi next week.

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“Yes, we did (exceed expectations) because to be honest, we knew that it would be very difficult pace-wise. We expected McLaren to be very strong in terms of race pace. We maybe did not expect Max to be that strong, but he was super strong.

“However, finishing second after such a weekend, where the track characteristics are very far off from the optimal we need for our car, is a surprise.

“We got a little bit lucky, obviously on my side. A bit unlucky with Carlos and his puncture. But as a team, it’s been a positive weekend. So yes, we exceeded our expectations because coming into the weekend, I kind of expected to lose a points compared to McLaren here. However, we recovered some, so that’s good.”

One of the reasons Leclerc believes Ferrari surprised itself was by accepting it was unlikely to be overly competitive and not worrying about the potential gap to its rivals at the start of the event.

“We knew that it wasn’t going to be our strongest weekend, but we decided to just focus on ourselves and try to do what was the best possible result for us, and I think we achieved that very well. We should be happy. Then we of course need to look at what we can do in the future to be faster on those kind of tracks, but this weekend we did work very well as a team.”

Perez blames SQ1 exit on Leclerc fight

Sergio Perez says being caught in a fight with Charles Leclerc on his final flying lap cost him enough time to be knocked out in SQ1 at the Qatar Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver was already close to the drop zone when he started his final attempt, …

Sergio Perez says being caught in a fight with Charles Leclerc on his final flying lap cost him enough time to be knocked out in SQ1 at the Qatar Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver was already close to the drop zone when he started his final attempt, but had Leclerc on his inside on the run to the first corner. Perez managed to stay ahead around the outside and continue his lap but his improvement wasn’t big enough to pull him clear of danger and he ended up being eliminated by just 0.013s.

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“Unfortunately we left a little bit late,” Perez explained. “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 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.”

Starting from 16th in a Sprint race that doesn’t feature any pit stops, Perez admits it’s unlikely he will be able to pull himself into points contention, with only the top eight cars scoring.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult. For now we will focus on the rest of the weekend,” he said. “In such a short race I don’t think there will be a lot that we can do. But yeah, we will try.”

It also wasn’t a particularly strong session for newly crowned world champion Max Verstappen in the other Red Bull, as he qualified sixth for the Sprint and feels his weekend is likely to be a struggle.

“Just no pace, to be honest,” Verstappen said. “Too slow — I just don’t really have the balance to attack. Entry to mid-corner the car is just a bit off, so that makes it really difficult around there. The very high speed is OK, but everything else is not OK and that makes it just difficult to push. I think P6 is more or less where we should be, maybe even P7 actually, but that’s of course not where you want to be.

“The Sprint, probably it will be tough to fight the cars around me just with the balance I have in the car. Then for the other qualifying, let’s see if we can improve the situation a bit, but I don’t suddenly expect it to be turned upside down and then it works. It’s not been amazing, let’s say it like that.”