Perez will start Saturday’s quick-fire hit-out in a disappointing 16th place.

It’s the latest in a string of underwhelming performances that has seen the Mexican driver score just 49 points in 16 events.

With two races remaining, it’s widely accepted that he faces the axe at Red Bull Racing if he’s not able to deliver a stunning result both this weekend and in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

His case was not helped by his performance in Sprint Qualifying, where he was seven-tenths slower than Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen in the opening segment.

“Unfortunately we left a little bit late,” Perez reasoned of his shortened qualifying appearance

“We had an issue with one of the anti-roll bars, and then to get my final lap we were all opening gaps and then Charles came and we were fighting into Turn 1 and so on, so we lost a couple of tenths there.

“It was enough to be knocked out, which was a shame because I thought we really progressed with the car from P1 to qualifying, we had a lot more potential and it’s a shame that we just ended up here.”

Perez had been only 18th fastest in Free Practice 1, more than two seconds slower than Charles Leclerc and eight-tenths away from Verstappen’s best.

In Sprint Qualifying, he did scrap with Leclerc as he began his final flying lap, the Ferrari seemingly pulling aside but remaining somewhere near the apex as the Red Bull Racing turned in.

With points paid down only to eighth place in the Sprint tomorrow, it’s a tall ask for Perez to contribute to the team’s tally.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult,” he conceded.

“For now we will focus on the rest of the weekend.

“In such a short race I don’t think there will be a lot that we can do. But yeah, we will try.”

Beyond the Sprint, another qualifying session follows to determine the grid for Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix.

The Sprint itself, scheduled for 19 laps, begins at 17:00 local time on Saturday (01:00 AEDT Sunday).