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Sergio Perez

Perez puzzled after unexplained Red Bull slump

The Red Bull driver had previously claimed the last two pole positions in Jeddah, but was only third in 2024.

Perez Bahrain FP3
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Sergio Perez was left unsure as to the cause of a slump in performance from his Red Bull after qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

After what he described as a promising Thursday practice, the Mexican managed to grab third place on the grid for the race, but felt performance was lacking from his RB20 as team-mate Max Verstappen earned pole position.

Third extends Perez's run of not qualifying on the front-row of the grid to 20 races since pole in Miami, with the defending race-winner keen to uncover the reasons behind the sudden slump.

"I think the whole day has not been as good as yesterday, and somehow we took a step back from what we were doing [on Thursday]," Perez told media including RacingNews365.

"It is something that we have to understand [especially for the race], and I hope that what we've done [for the race], we will be in a better position come the race and be able to have a stronger race.

"[Thursday] was a very strong day, very positive and over one lap, things were going in the right direction.

"But we took a step back somehow, and I don't know if anything changed on the track or in our prep, but it is certainly something to review and then try to come to the bottom of it.

"[Beating Leclerc] will be a challenge, and racing here it is all about race pace and degradation.

"It is a track where you can overtake, it is a place where you can race."

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