Perez believes he 'should have' been higher than P10

Sergio Perez admits he was left disappointed following his qualifying effort at Suzuka on Saturday. The Mexican got himself inside the top ten after Q2, making it through to the final stage.

However the Force India driver then set the slowest time out of the runners. The 28-year-old will start the race from ninth on the gird after teammate Esteban Ocon was handed a grid penalty for an altercation that occurred during final practice.

Perez couldn't improve on the first lap he set in Q3 as the rain started to fall midway through the session. Reflecting on the hour of qualifying as a whole, the former Sauber and McLaren racer says it was tough running.

“I am not very happy with my qualifying result because I think I should have been in front of quite a few other cars,” said Pérez.  “It was a difficult session from the beginning of Q1.

“I was completing my lap when the red flag for Ericsson’s crash came out: I was just metres away from the line but I didn’t get a lap and I had to go again. In Q3 I went wide and lost a lot of time on my first lap when the track was at its best so there is definitely the feeling I could have done a lot more today.”

Despite the disappointing result, Perez is confident that he has the pace to recover and bag more points: “We need to make up some ground tomorrow,” he stated. “We start in the top ten and we have good pace so good points are achievable.”

Replies (0)

Login to reply

AZ Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

AZAzerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

Test calendar

See full test schedule

World Championship standings 2025

Show full world champion standings

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2026

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
6 - Mar 8
Australia
13 - Mar 15
China
27 - Mar 29
Japan
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
1 - May 3
United States of America
22 - May 24
Canada
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
12 - Jun 14
Spain
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2026

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
10 - Apr 12
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
5 - Jun 7
Monaco Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Sauber
  • Points 18
  • Podiums 0
  • Grand Prix 81
  • Country SE
  • Date of b. Sep 2 1990 (35)
  • Place of b. Kumla, SE
  • Weight 63 kg
  • Length 1.8 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar