Perez suffers latest qualifying nightmare with Q1 exit at Silverstone

The Mexican will start Sunday’s grand prix from a lowly 16th after a shock elimination in the first segment of qualifying at Silverstone. 

Perez had been second in the timesheets but tumbled down the order as others found time with track conditions improving following a red flag towards the end of Q1. 

It is the fifth consecutive qualifying session that Perez has failed to reach Q3, while it also marks his third Q1 elimination of the season. 

Perez has failed to start inside the top-10 at the last five races. 

Perez is already 81 points down on Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen in the world championship. 

"The red flag lasted longer than we expected initially, that didn’t help for the temperature of the tyre," Perez said. "And yeah, just a shame to lose out as we had a great Friday, the race pace was looking really good, starting from the back it’s going to be another race where we try and minimise the damage."

Perez added: "I think in this conditions it’s where I struggle the most with the car.

"My issues with the car become more apparent in the changeable conditions, so I think it’s something as a group we need to get on top of and understand what we are able to do better, simple as that."