Perez reckons disaster scenario Red Bull: 'We saw that last year'

18 March 2023 at 19:23

GPblog.com

Sergio Perez managed to limit the damage for Red Bull Racing by securing pole position in Jeddah, after Max Verstappen was stranded in Q2 by a broken driveshaft. Speaking to Viaplay, he analyses his qualifying and estimates his chances for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

Perez on qualifying Jeddah

Perez says Saturday was difficult for him, up to and including the first part of qualifying. "Q1 was not ideal but Q2, we were making steps and Q3 we managed to find quite a good lap and that really meant that we could get that pole position with this strong car," explains the polesitter.

Asked if there is anything that can stop him on Sunday and whether he will be able to turn the pole into a win, Perez keeps both feet on the ground. "That's definitely the target. But, you know, we, we got a long race ahead of us tomorrow," the 33-year-old Mexican stressed. "A lot of things can happen. We saw it last year. I was leading in the race. We felt we had the race on the pocket and then I boxed and then there was the safety car."

Asked if similar problems could occur as we saw with Verstappen, Perez says he takes that scenario into account. "This track is not easy for cars. So yeah, obviously tomorrow it's a long race and anything can really happen," concluded the Red Bull Racing driver.