Perez reveals setup experiments in Qatar F1 Sprint

Having failed to make it out in SQ1 yesterday, Sergio Perez was always going to face a difficult sprint race on Saturday, but he managed to save his day by using the 19-lap race as a test session.

Following his issues in sprint qualifying, the Mexican driver committed to a pitlane start as Red Bull made setup changes to his car in a bid to better refine the RB20 for the demands of the Lusail Circuit.

The six-time F1 race winner even completed a pit stop during the race to try out a new front wing setup in the second half of the Qatar F1 Sprint in order to further evaluate his RB20's balance.

Asked to explain his sprint race following the qualifying session, in which he qualified ninth, the Mexican driver has revealed the experimentation had helped find a better balance for the main qualifying and the race itself.

“Looking ahead to the rest of the weekend and to understand what to do with both cars, we decided to take my car out of parc ferme for the Sprint. That was to prioritise trying some different set-ups and take learnings, it compromised our Sprint but ultimately was beneficial for Qualifying and hopefully the race.

"We made some good improvements, the main thing has been the tyre and the first sector was still on the difficult side, but it was a good step from where we were earlier. The pace was a lot better in Qualifying and the main thing is we found the balance.

"The main race is tomorrow, I am hopeful we will have good pace, we are looking better on the long runs, and I think it is coming to us. The target will be to go with the leaders and try to get through the field, I think we can be competitive. I think we have made some good progress today and that’s really positive," concluded Perez.