At the start of Q3, when he saw his namw next to the number 1, Sergio Perez truly believed he could grab pole position. Instead, he had to settle for third position. The Mexican started Q3 with the Intermediate compund, while Lance Stroll started with the full wet, to then switch to the intermediate for his last attempt. But the one who 'destroyed' Perez's chances to be on the front raw was Antonio Giovinazzi: the italian, during Checo's fast lap, lost his Alfa Romeo in turn 5, forcing the Racing Point driver to slow down. There wasn't anything he could do: he is third, behind Stroll and Max Verstappen. Next to him, in the second raw, Alex Albon. Checo will start from the better side of the track. The start and the first lap will be fundamental to build up a margin from the Mercedes. 

“It’s a great day for the team and I’m very pleased" said Checo, who is still happy with the result of the team. Obviosuly, this result will serve as a good business card to find a new team for 2021. 

"In Q1, I had to abort my best lap under yellow flags and that almost cost me a place in Q2, especially as others didn’t abort their laps under double waved yellow. But we narrowly made it through - explained the mexican - once we were in Q3, we decided to go for the intermediate tyre because I was confident we could get the temperature into it and make it work. It paid off and lap by lap, we were improving and looking quick.

"I think I could have taken pole today, but on my final lap when my tyres were at their best, [Antonio] Giovinazzi was in front of me at Turn 5 and he went off and came back onto the track in front of me, and I had to back off. But still, I’m very happy with P3, especially because it means we will start on the better side of the grid than we would have in P2. We can be proud of how much we improved the car overnight and we were very strong in the wet conditions. We’ll have to see what is possible in the race tomorrow – anything could happen. We know the Mercedes are going to come through the field and Max will be strong, but hopefully we can have a good first lap and go from there. I expect it will be a tricky start to the race because it’s going to be difficult to get the tyres up to temperature quickly, but hopefully we can take advantage and bring home a special result for the team.”