Mexican media's hope drops like a lead balloon as they hide the negatives
General
Sergio Pérez arrived at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with hopes of putting a tricky weekend in Monaco behind him. He still hopes to close the points gap to team-mate Max Verstappen in the F1 World Drivers' Championship standings. However, the Mexican again makes it difficult for himself after a blunder in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. The Mexican media, previously supportive of the Red Bull Racing driver's own self-proclaimed bid to take the championship at the end of the season, are now unreservedly critical of him.
Esto
The controversial and not always-objective Mexican newspaper reports that "Checo Perez was eliminated in Q2", and elaborates that the Mexican driver "could not overcome last week's performance in Monaco and failed again in qualifying". This comes just one day after the same newspaper said "he's back" when the Mexican recorded the second quickest time in the first free practice session.
Earlier in the week, the same publication wrote: "Helmut Marko, underestimated the capabilities of the Mexican driver Checo Pérez by assuring that he was never a threat to Max Verstappen" as they rallied behind 'their' driver. Now they are left to write about another Perez mistake. Interestingly a positive story published on Friday about Perez remains at the top of the page whereas the qualifying report is smaller and tucked away.
ESPN
The sports broadcasting conglomerate's headlines open with "Checo Pérez to start 11th in Spain", emphasising "another poor Saturday result" from Red Bull's Mexican driver and describing his "bitter" Saturday in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix "as he was eliminated in Q2", highlighting that this is "his second worst qualifying of the season", behind only the Mexican's difficult qualifying performance last week at the Monaco Grand Prix. They are quite clear about the difficulties Perez will have tomorrow as, according to the media, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is "another track where overtaking is complicated".
AS Mexico
"Checo Perez fails again in qualifying", is the assessment of Sergio Perez's performance in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, adding that the Mexican "has now lost his way in the Spanish GP". According to the Mexican edition of the international media, the Red Bull driver's form "starts to fade in 2023", and they describe his qualifying as an "ordeal". They are unsparing in their criticism, stating that the man who sits second in the World Drivers' Championship standings made a mistake on Saturday "for the second weekend in a row", "after losing his way at Turn 5".
Marca Mexico
The Mexican section of the international sports daily summarises both sides of qualifying for the Red Bull team as a "Checo Pérez catastrophe, Verstappen party". The renowned news outlet stresses that Sergio Pérez "once again underperformed in Spanish GP Qualifying" and adds that the Mexican will start from 11th position "if there are no changes to the starting grid."
El Financiero
The headlines of this media open with, "'Checo' Perez makes an expensive mistake in Q2". Despite having strongly supported the chances of overtaking Max Verstappen in the fight for the F1 World Drivers' Championship title, the media outlet is now blunt in stating that the driver from Guadalajara "is about to 'say goodbye' to the chances of the drivers' championship" and argues that his "mistakes in the last two weekends" would be the reason for this. After the offside that saw him cross the gravel beyond the confines of turn 5, the newspaper summarises that "the seconds of recovery cost the Red Bull driver 'dearly' as he was unable to recover the position that could have rescued him to qualify for Q3" relegating the Mexican to 11th place on the grid for tomorrow's race.