How the Las Vegas Grand Prix sphere reacted to Sergio Perez’s Q1 exit for Red Bull

Sergio Perez suffered yet another significant blow at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Friday evening as he went out in Q1. It will only increase the doubts over his 2025 chances.

Perez complained over the radio that he couldn’t find any grip during the session. It’s extremely cold in Vegas – relative to other F1 races – but his teammate Max Verstappen was once again in a different stratosphere.

Barring any penalties ahead of him, Perez will start Saturday night’s race 16th on the grid. He joined Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll in his immediate exit.

Significantly, Perez was beaten by two of his rivals for a 2025 seat. Liam Lawson outpaced him for junior team RB, while Franco Colapinto outqualified Albon on merit for the first time, though he later crashed in Q2.

The Mexican has repeatedly had to attempt comeback drives on Sundays after miserable qualifying sessions. Perez has only reached Q3 13 times in 22 events, while Verstappen has done so on 21 occasions.

It’s the fourth time in the last five Grands Prix that he’s failed to make the top-10 shoot-out. He’s only scored eight points in this stretch.

Sergio Perez ‘gives himself a thumbs down’ after Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying woes

One of the many things that makes the Las Vegas Grand Prix unique is the giant ‘sphere’ that the drivers pass in the middle sector. All 20 of them carried out content sessions to generate images that could be displayed during the F1 action.

According to journalist Chris Medland, Perez could be seen giving ‘himself the thumbs down’ after his elimination. That will only add to the embarrassment for the veteran driver.

His teammate Verstappen could be crowned world champion on Saturday. McLaren driver Lando Norris must outscore him by at least three points to take the fight to Qatar.

As the promoters for the event, Liberty Media are hoping Verstappen wins the title in Vegas. The Sphere would no doubt form part of the elaborate celebrations if so.

The two-word Sergio Perez answer that may age poorly after Las Vegas blow

Red Bull were already ‘furious’ with Perez heading into the weekend because he’s unofficially amassed more crash damage than any other driver. While there was no accident here, he’s hurt the team’s constructors’ championship hopes.

They came into the weekend 49 points behind McLaren, which meant they needed a significant contribution from their second driver. But now it looks as if Red Bull could soon slip out of contention altogether.

As for his future, Perez is adamant that he’ll keep his seat for 2025. In his eyes, he has a contract and that’s the end of the discussion.

He says he’s ‘all in’ on Red Bull for next year, but that statement may age poorly. Christian Horner and Helmut Marko might well be exploring routes out of their agreement.