Perez compliments: 'I think it was a great lap by Max'

F1 News

8 October 2022 at 08:44
1
  • GPblog.com

Sergio Perez will start Sunday's Japanese race from fourth position. The Mexican managed to do reasonably well with a time of 1:29.709, but fell more than four-tenths short of his teammate Max Verstappen in the process. Speaking to Viaplay after qualifying, he congratulated Verstappen on his performance.

"I think it was a great lap by Max," Perez said. "He put it all together when it mattered. On our side, we didn't find enough in Q3. Especially on my first lap, I was a bit down. Then we lost out by a few tenths. We could have been further ahead, but we are looking forward to tomorrow."

On Friday, it was still raining hard in Japan, which caused mixed results in the free practice sessions. Perez is hoping for a similar scenario on Sunday. "Rain would be good. That could mix things up. Also for the fans, we'll see what happens tomorrow."

Race organisers investigate Verstappen

For now, Verstappen will have to wait and see if he actually starts Sunday's race from pole position. This is because race control is still investigating further an incident between Verstappen and Lando Norris, in which it only just ended well for both men.