Amid a season riddled with struggles and growing scrutiny, Sergio Perez delivered a commendable performance during the Belgian Grand Prix qualifying. Achieving third place in adverse wet conditions at Spa-Francorchamps, the Red Bull driver seems to be back on form, which is especially notable given his recent accumulation of just 21 points over the last seven rounds. This performance comes at a pivotal moment, as Red Bull Racing hinted at an impending evaluation of his role during the upcoming summer break.
The Mexican driver’s qualifying session was fraught with challenges. The Q2 session nearly saw him eliminated, as he finished a mere 0.003 seconds ahead of Alex Albon from Williams. Reflecting on this close call, Perez acknowledged a timing error in their run program. He explained during a post-qualifying interview with Sky Sports F1, as quoted by Motorsport Week:
“The problem was our run program. We finished a lap before everyone. I think I was P4 or something but then when you give a lap away everything was really close so we were very lucky to be able to make it.
“I think it was definitely a mistake on our run program to left us that vulnerable basically.”
Despite advancing in qualifying, Perez admitted to ongoing struggles with the car’s dynamics, similar to issues faced in recent races. He continued:
“Not initially. We tried a lot of things. We kept throwing things at it and it’s never ideal when you don’t have progression. Once again today we tried a lot of things.
“I think we found a nicer window a little bit similar in the direction of Hungary, but we were a lot happier with the car. So I think although I mean it’s on the Inter conditions, but the balance in the medium, high speed was feeling positive in the right direction.
“Let’s see tomorrow. I think tomorrow it’s going to be a very different day and let’s see how much we are able to improve.”
Perez, often calm and collected, dismissed notions that external pressures swayed his performance, hitting back at his critics:
“From my point of view it doesn’t change anything. I’ve always said it’s not where we are now it’s how you ride the waves and where we finish in Abu Dhabi.
“I mean there are a lot of drivers that haven’t been able to maximize their performance lately but obviously the scrutiny on my side has been quite a bit higher. It doesn’t change anything from my point of view. I think tomorrow is a new day, a new opportunity.
“It would have been the same if I was knocked out in Q2, tomorrow is a new opportunity to do better and in the way I see it it’s tomorrow what really counts. And if I don’t have a good race tomorrow I will try to have a good one in Zandvoort.
“But it’s how it is this is a sport and sometimes it goes your way sometimes you have to fight and nothing goes in your direction but I think it’s just the nature of the sport.”
Looking ahead, Perez remains optimistic about translating these improvements into substantial race results.
“More than confidence, I mean it’s not like I forgot how to drive you know from five, six races ago. With a lot of drivers sometimes you’re not able to maximize the full potential of your car.
“For that reason you end up lacking that let’s say confidence to extract the maximum out of the car you have. I think we’ve been taking good step forwards in the right direction since Hungary.
“I think Silverstone was already good, had a really good Friday, so I think the car is going in the right direction for now. Hopefully tomorrow we are able to finish it off with a strong result and still there is a long way to go in the season.
“So head down and I think like I’ve said before you know the team myself are focusing on and what we gotta do at the end of the day. It’s getting the most points we possibly can and the rest couldn’t care less to be honest.”
Read the full article here
