Sergio Pérez reflected on his qualifying session at the Belgian Grand Prix, where he secured P3, which translates to P2 on the grid due to Max Verstappen’s penalty. Speaking about the session, Pérez shared his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities ahead.
“Yeah, it was very tricky at times. Obviously, as always, you know, in these conditions, it’s so easy for it to go wrong, as it’s been going in the last few qualifying sessions. And, yeah, it was good to finally put it together.”
When asked about the confidence boost from his starting position, Pérez responded, “Yeah, it was a good one, but I’m conscious that tomorrow is what really matters.
“We’ve done a lot of changes with the car, mainly thinking forwards for tomorrow, so we will see what we are able to do, come away with. That’s the main target for us really, to look after the tyres better than we did on Friday. Hopefully, we can get a little bit more pace and get back to a very strong race pace.”
Pérez acknowledged the significance of his starting position at Spa and the difficulties faced in Q2. It was almost a disaster in the middle segment as he finished up P10, just 0.003s quicker than Alex Albon.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have any new tyres for Q3. We were a bit out of sync in Q2, so we were also quite lucky to make it into P10. P2 is probably the best position you can wish for at Spa,” he noted.
Reflecting on last year when he passed Charles Leclerc on the Kemmel straight to take the lead on the opening lap, the Mexican hopes to repeat it tomorrow.
“It was the same with Charles last year, so I’m going to try to replicate that. It’s a long race ahead of us, and it looks like it’s going to be dry, so we’ll see.”
Addressing his recent challenging races and his quest for a first win of the season, Pérez is aware of how strong McLaren are.
“Yes, I think so. I think tomorrow we should be able to be strong. Let’s see, hopefully, I’m able to get Charles early on and manage my race.
“The McLaren looked very strong on Friday, but tomorrow it’s a totally different scenario, so we’ll see.”
Pérez’s recent qualifying performances have been under scrutiny, particularly after crashes in Silverstone and Hungary. He addressed this by emphasising a fresh start each weekend. It’s also his first top 5 start since Miami.
“Like I’ve always said, every weekend is a new opportunity to do better. Tomorrow is a new chance for us to improve and go for that win,” he said.
Looking ahead to the race, Pérez expressed cautious optimism about his prospects, saying, “I think tomorrow’s degradation will be quite tricky, and graining with the new tarmac could be challenging.
“There are still a lot of unknowns, but I have a good feeling for tomorrow, so we’ll see.
“It’s a very long race ahead of us. Degradation and graining will be tricky, but I’ve got a good feeling for tomorrow, so we’ll see.”
As for his teammate Max Verstappen starting from P11, Pérez commented that it’s vital for him to stay out of trouble on the opening lap as he looks to charge through the pack to join the fight at the front.
“I think it’s important to stay out of trouble from those positions, which is normally really hard. I expect him to come through and hopefully, we can have a very strong weekend for the team.
“It’s a shame he has a penalty because we need momentum on our side. It seems to be with McLaren at the moment, so hopefully we can turn it around tomorrow.”
Pérez remains hopeful for a successful race, aiming to capitalise on his strong starting position and the improvements made with the car set-up after McLaren clearly held a pace advantage in the race simulations on Friday in FP2.
“Tomorrow is what really matters.
“We’ve made significant changes to the car, mainly looking ahead to tomorrow, so we’ll see what we can achieve. The main target is to look after the tyres better than we did on Friday.
“Hopefully, we can find a bit more pace and get back to a strong race pace.”
