Perez almost qualified on the front row, then things went wrong

Sergio Perez looked to be heading for a place on the front row of the grid, according to Helmut Marko, but it did not come to that. The Mexican lost it at the last corner, turning onto the straight. The result was sixth place. Still, Max Verstappen's teammate does not sound too disappointed.

"Things were looking great initially, then with the traffic and the backoff people were doing we were onto a good final lap but unfortunately, I just couldn’t do the final corner, it was so tricky to get through there and that meant I went off," said Perez, who will be looking to make a bid for the podium in the sprint race from the third row of the grid.

What if the 34-year-old veteran had kept his RB20 on the asphalt? "That compromised being on the front row for the Sprint but I think we are in a good place this weekend. I felt confident straight away today and we are in a good moment with the car, so in any conditions I think we can be competitive for now, which is very promising," he said.

If Perez wants to call himself the new world championship leader after this weekend, he must make up 13 points on Verstappen. He has the sprint race and Sunday's Grand Prix for that.