Sergio Perez has said that using an extra set of tyres in Q2 ‘probably played against us’ as he and Max Verstappen were only able to qualify third and fifth respectively.

The Ferrari pairing of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz put in a brilliant effort to lock out the front row of the grid, and give themselves a fantastic chance of securing only the team’s second race victory of the season.

Perez, who is competing in his home race this weekend, was outqualified by Daniel Ricciardo in the AlphaTauri (Red Bull’s sister team), who put in a stunning performance to launch himself back to the front of the Formula 1 grid.

It means that both Perez and Verstappen will have a job on their hands come Sunday’s race, if they want to beat the two Ferraris ahead of them.

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen once again struggled in qualifying, but will still be in the hunt for the race victory

Sergio Perez is competing in his home race this weekend, and is adored by the Mexican Grand Prix fans

Perez looking forward to Ferrari fight

Perez had been hoping to send the Mexican fans wild by pipping his team-mate to pole position on Saturday, but the surprise inclusion of the Ferraris in the battle made that job even harder than it already was.

Leclerc claimed his fourth pole position of the season, whilst the Mexican had to settle for just a top five position.

Charles Leclerc once again showed off his supreme one-lap pace by pipping both Red Bulls to pole position at the Mexican Grand Prix

With his dominant RB19 car, however, he will still feel as though he’s in the hunt for a race win that would send the crowd at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez into a frenzy.

“Yes, unbelievable what Ferrari did in the last laps,” Perez told DAZN after qualifying.

“Yes there will be a lot of fighting tomorrow, there is a lot to look ahead.”