Formula 1 fans tear into ‘sore loser’ Sergio Perez after one radio message at Qatar Grand Prix

Sergio Perez suffered more misery with Red Bull at the Qatar Grand Prix as he was eliminated again from the first part of qualifying for the Sprint race.

The Mexican was knocked out of SQ1 in 16th place, leaving him with it all to do in the race on Saturday.

Jenson Button says there was nothing wrong with Perez’s lap as the 34-year-old was once again off the pace in his RB20.

This latest woe at Red Bull will certainly put the Mexican under even more pressure to perform in the last two races of the season. Perez faces being replaced by Red Bull before 2025 as the team assesses their options for Max Verstappen’s future teammate.

And Perez did himself no favours with his SQ1 elimination in Qatar, nor with one message he had for Charles Leclerc during the session.

Formula 1 fans tear into Sergio Perez after his message to Charles Leclerc in Sprint qualifying in Qatar

Beginning his flying lap, Perez was seen side by side with Leclerc heading into turn one, almost racing one another to get to the corner.

The Red Bull driver came over his radio saying: “I don’t know what Leclerc was doing there,” as he kept ahead of the Ferrari after the first corner.

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And fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to rip into Perez following his early exit from qualifying. One user wrote: “Such a sore loser”, while another pointed out that Leclerc was “trying to get by a slow car”.

Several fans were left wondering what the Mexican was doing rather than Leclerc. One said: “Nobody knows what you’re doing there,” while another wrote: “I don’t know what Checo is doing out of SQ1 in the first place.”

One fan said: “Same here bud we don’t know what you are doing either,” while another pointed out Leclerc had got through to SQ2 rather than Perez: “He was getting out of q1, something you weren’t doing.”

Sergio Perez will certainly be under more pressure to keep his Red Bull seat

Perez is enduring his worst season with Red Bull as he sits eighth in the drivers’ standings. The 34-year-old has not finished in the top five since Miami and has only finished higher than 10th once in the last six events.

Speculation is growing rife that Red Bull is seriously considering replacing Perez come the end of the season. Ted Kravitz heard something from Perez in Qatar that suggests that he wants to leave Red Bull, putting his future into further doubt.

Liam Lawson is being linked with a promotion from RB, with his teammate Yuki Tsunoda seemingly not being considered for the second seat alongside Max Verstappen.

With two races to go, it is anyone’s guess as to what Red Bull will do with Perez come 2025. But the Mexican will need to find some serious improvements in Qatar and Abu Dhabi if he wants to stand any chance of keeping his seat.