Cadillac driver Sergio Perez suffered a huge blow at the start of his Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
Perez was slowest in the sole practice session at the Shanghai International Circuit, finishing six and a half seconds off the pace of pace-setter George Russell in his Mercedes, and with only 13 laps to his name, with the majority of the field in the mid-to-high 20s.
The Mexican had at least hoped to build into the weekend by competing in sprint qualifying, only to be ruled out by the team.
A team spokesperson confirmed: "Checo won’t be participating in this sprint quali session. The team identified a fuel system issue at the end of the earlier practice session that could not be fixed in time."
It left Cadillac with just one car in the fight in Shanghai, with Valtteri Bottas at the wheel.
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