Hometown hero Sergio Pérez will start the Mexico City Grand Prix from fifth after a less than ideal qualifying session, according to the Red Bull Racing driver himself. A heat cycle on one of his sets in Q2 put him a bit on the back foot, despite him being closer to teammate Max Verstappen compared to recent races.
“Not where I wanted to be you know. I think missing out on that set of tyres, that second set of tyres for for Q3, in Q2 we really didn’t need it,” Checo explained. “That was quite costly because the progression that we had in Q3 wasn’t ideal, you know, doing that first run on the scrub and then going into the new.
“When I finished my lap, I felt like I undershot it a bit here and there, and I mean a tenth or two would have changed completely our lives today. So yeah, not ideal.”
In his interview with Sky F1 he was not only answering questions from the pundits, but also handing out autographs left and right, highlighting the tremendous support he receives in Mexico.
“Yeah, it’s super special [racing at home]. I mean, you know, to race at home, nothing compares to it. This is the only weekend that you want to be perfect.
“You don’t wanna put a foot wrong. So still, from where we starting anything can happen. And I’m just gonna give it all. It’s all I can do.”
The support he gets also means he has a much busier weekend than normal, but the Mexican was adamant he could get some much needed alone-time before the race.
“Oh yeah definitely. Because at the end of the day I’m here to race and the best way to please everyone is by by doing a good race.”
