Tag Archives: Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez was one of the stars of the Russian GP after a bold strategy call by Force India helped the Mexican to an eventual third place.

Perez was the best placed of several drivers who gambled by putting under an early safety car and attempting to get to the flag while others waited and pitted under green.

He held third for many laps only to lose out to Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen on the penultimate lap after his tyres finally gave up. However the two Finns then collided, and Perez regained the final podium spot.

“I was confident going into the race, obviously not expecting a podium at all, but the race started quite well,” he said. “Obviously Nico [Hulkenberg] went out quite early, the safety car came out. Then we had a second safety car and we decided to box. We were one of the few cars to box.

“The restart going behind Felipe [Massa] and Nasr, I was just stuck there and couldn’t get them, so I decided to save my tyres together with the team, to look after them at the end of the race, and it worked really well.”

Perez admitted his tyres were finished in the closing laps: “I think we lost a podium one lap before the end, but it was just very difficult to hold them back, to hold Valtteri and Raikkonen back.

“At the stage I couldn’t brake very hard, very late because I was at risk of flat-spotting my tyres and retiring from the race, so there was a certain level of risk that I was able to take and I thought OK, if it’s not a podium, let’s really come back with the points. And then in the last lap they had contact and it was very good to come back and give a second podium to the team.

Perez said he’s excited about the future: “I think we’re going into a great momentum. It’s great news that I’m staying with the team. so we have a lot of momentum going through us and hopefully we can maintain it for the end of the year.

“Definitely I’m going through a great moment in my career. From where we are it’s difficult to realise but people who look at my performance, they can see that I’m at my best moment in my career, and that’s something that makes me confident.”

Sergio Perez is targeting a podium finish at Spa for Force India after landing fourth spot on the grid.

The Mexican qualified fifth, but he moves up a place as Romain Grosjean has a gearbox penalty.

“It was a great lap, putting everything together, and ending up so close to the Williams ahead,” he said. “I think we’ve done an extremely good job. From yesterday to today we did some set-up changes that definitely helped our balance.

“I think we have definitely come into a nice rhythm and I look forward for me to be here more often, because right now I think I’m dialling into the new car, and I see no reason why I can’t do this weekend after weekend.”

Regarding his hopes for the race he said: “I wouldn’t discount a podium for tomorrow, because I’m so confident with the car I can do a strong performance tomorrow. I think this is the most confident I’ve felt throughout the whole year with the car. I can really throw it everywhere and be right on the edge with it.

“Everything is possible for tomorrow. We have big hopes for tomorrow, starting P4, and we’ve got everything ahead of us.”

Perez is confident that the team can repeat the Spa form elsewhere.

“I think we have everything to look forward to. Obviously this circuit is a bit different to the rest, but I see no reason why we cannot be competitive everywhere we go.”