Sergio Perez lamented significant 'balance issues' while analysing his disastrous Qatar Grand Prix qualifying session.
Perez had aimed for a strong comeback after a torrid weekend in Japan last time out but faced elimination in Q2, which is his eighth such exit this season.
The Mexican driver's best Q2 lap time was deleted because of track limits violations at Turn 5.
Even before that penalty, though, Perez managed only the 10th fastest lap time, falling significantly behind his team-mate Max Verstappen, who took pole.
A dejected Perez expressed frustration over the issues he encountered with his car while speaking to Sky Sports F1.
“It was quite difficult. We did struggle a lot for balance. Basically, we had so many issues that I just couldn’t fix any of them, every corner was pretty much different.
"I think the conditions are very difficult though, but just struggled a lot today in qualifying.
“It’s not over, it’s obviously going to be very difficult to pass, especially with the track conditions that we currently have.
"We’ll see what we are able to do and recover from there."