F1 | Tuscan GP | Sergio Perez: "It's been a positive day for the team"
The Mexican driver seems happy with the performance of his car after qualifying P6 with his teammate just behind him but he is aware that the strategy will not be easy to determine.
Today was qualifying day ahead of the Tuscan Grand Prix and, as usual, both Mercedes have dominated from start to finish all the sessions that have taken place so far. Lewis Hamilton managed to get his 95th pole position after beating his teammate Valtteri Bottas, who took the lead in all three free practice sessions. In third place, Max Verstappen finished with Alex Albon in fourth place. Fifth and with an incredible performance, Charles Leclerc finished with Sergio Perez in sixth ahead of his teammate. It was an extraordinarily strong qualifying session for both Racing Points, especially for the Mexican driver as he finished 0.045 seconds ahead of Lance Stroll. We have to remember that Checo will not start the race in sixth place, but in seventh due to a penalty spot for the collision in the second free practice with Kimi Raikkonen. Here are Checo's thoughts after qualifying.
“I think we got everything we could out of the car and overall, it’s been a positive day for the team. It was a good lap in Q3, which was important because we only had one set of Soft tyres remaining [having used two sets in Q1].” Commented the Mexican driver.
Checo finished in P5 in Q1 with a total of 7 laps, after that, he finished in P9 in Q2 with 6 laps under his belt, finally, he managed to qualify in P5 in Q3 with only three laps.
“It’s a shame that we have the penalty for the Grand Prix, but if I had to lose a place on the grid – I’m glad it’s to my teammate! Lance was able to run the car upgrade today, which is looking positive, so that’s a good sign for the coming races.” The Mexican affirmed
Ha sido un buen fin de semana, vamos a concretarlo pelando por buenos puntos mañana.
— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) September 12, 2020
Hará mucho calor; nos espera un buen reto en Mugello 💪#TuscanGP pic.twitter.com/uuXis5X5cp
As the team commented previously, they brought two cars with different aerodynamical set ups, the first one (which was for Lance) has an advantage because some parts have been upgraded, while Checo will race with the old one. The upgrades might get a minor advantage but both cars are very competitive.
“It’s a new race for all of us, so there’s plenty of unknowns and calling the strategy won’t be easy tomorrow. A strong start will mean we have everything to play for in the race.” That is how he finished.
The Mexican driver seems happy even though he has one penalty pending. Both drivers are looking for some good amounts of points as they are starting in high grid positions. They must be aware of both Renaults since they are starting just behind them, let’s hope for a good and entertaining race tomorrow.
