“Ferrari seem to be strong, also Mercedes,” Sergio Perez expecting ‘tough battle’ in qualifying as he tries to attain perfect home weekend
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Sergio Perez
Coming into the Mexico City Grand Prix, Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc are locked into a battle for P2 in the Driver’s championship, with them being separated by just two points. Last year, the Mexican finished on the podium of his home Grand Prix for the first time. While going one better would go a long way in his battle for P2 (that is, in case Max Verstappen wins), he would surely be looking for the victory.
As per Formula 1’s official website, Perez described his Friday as ‘tricky’: “Yeah, it was a tricky, tricky day as usual in Mexico with the altitude, everything is floating around so fairly easy to make mistakes in these conditions. So, overall, I think obviously FP2 was mainly for Pirelli but [in] FP1 we got a good base, and we seem to be there.”
While Red Bull have almost been entirely different in the races since the summer break, Ferrari have still given them a fight in qualifying, and Perez expects another tomorrow: “Ferrari seem to be strong, also Mercedes, so it’s going to be a tough battle tomorrow. I think we got up to speed fairly quickly [in FP1] so should be straightforward tomorrow hopefully. But you can always expect different things tomorrow.”
Of course, the ideal result for him would be pole position, and the crowd will certainly go wild at that prospect. And this time in the race, there is no pressure of a championship battle on Red Bull like there was last year, so the team should be more willing to let the drivers themselves duke it out. It is interesting to note that out of the last six Mexican Grands Prix, the man on pole position has only won twice.
Sergio Perez has ‘dreamt a few times’ about winning his home GP
A win for Sergio Perez will lift the metaphorical roof of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Not only that, he will become the first Mexican driver ever to win his home Grand Prix. Even for non-Mexican and Red Bull fans, it’s certainly a delightful prospect. But it remains to be seen how ‘Checo’ can match up against his teammate this weekend, and P2 rival Charles Leclerc.
In Thursday’s press conference at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Perez admitted that he has dreamed about winning the race: “Yeah, I’ve dreamt a few times already about it. And it will be massive for me. Obviously, that’s the target for Sunday. It will not be easy. We need to be perfect throughout the weekend.”
Being his home Grand Prix, this is obviously the most special weekend for him as a racing driver: “So yeah, I think all the focus will be now on the racing stuff, to try to maximise a weekend. And yeah, at the end of the day, it’s another weekend with the same amount of points – but it’s the most special one for me.”
Perez finished P3 in FP1, and P5 in FP2 during Pirelli’s tyre testing, both times ahead of Max Verstappen, who had a spin in FP1. Pirelli’s CEO Mario Isola had said that he expects little grip in the Grand Prix, and even some sliding, and the Dutchman’s moment (and later Leclerc’s) are somewhat confirmation of that.
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