It was another difficult performance for Sergio Perez, meanwhile, who with a three-place grid penalty carried over from Canada will make his fourth consecutive start outside the top 10, lining up in P11 for Sunday’s race – Perez at least marking his first Q3 appearance since Miami.
“It was quite a tricky one,” said the Mexican, whose contract was extended at Red Bull in the run-up to the Canadian Grand Prix. “We did struggle initially. We burned through the tyres a little bit too quick and unfortunately we just didn’t put it together when it mattered, which was in Q3 – my lap wasn’t as clean as I needed it to be on that run, so unfortunately, just not enough of a rhythm, of a pace.
AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix
“We’re starting P11, so it’s going to be a tricky race from there, but with the penalty, being P11 is quite a difficult one,” he added. “Definitely we will try and we will push really hard to get through. Ideally if we’re able to save a couple of points, it will be a tremendous job from the whole team.”
Red Bull head the constructors’ fight heading into Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, the team 49 points clear of closest rivals Ferrari.