F1 News
Perez certain he can 'recover' despite lack of update: 'A good step taken'
Sergio Perez is feeling positive heading into the final leg of the 2024 season despite a disappointing qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas. The Mexican is yet to have upgrades on his RB20, but teammate Max Verstappen does. Verstappen won Saturday's sprint race and is lining up from second on the grid for Sunday's race. Perez reflected on his own day and explained why he is more confident.
With the upgrades, Verstappen once again showed what he is capable of. During sprint qualifying and the sprint race, he was the man to beat once again. Before Saturday's sprint race victory, Verstappen hadn't won any event since the Spanish Grand Prix in June. A long drought for a three-time consecutive Formula 1 world champion.
Perez positive due to Verstappen's upgrades:
The Mexican sees improvement with the new parts his teammate has on his RB20: "I think we as a team have done a pretty good step in the right direction, I obviously don't think I have the latest upgrade, which is looking good on Max, I think the car is definitely working better, we were probably on the wrong side of the setup with the sprint event, we did improve that a lot, so yeah, things were looking a lot better," he stated. Perez finished the sprint race in 10th, the same spot he will start Sunday's Grand Prix from.
Perez is yet to have new updates:
Perez does not yet have the latest floor specifications on his car. Still, progression has been made on his side of the garage, according to the man himself. "Yeah, I think we understand the limitations, so going to an event is quite helpful to understand the limitations. I think the team has definitely done a pretty good job on that, so we just have to try and do more of it in the same direction and hopefully tomorrow the right space will be there and we can be able to recover," the Mexican said.
Next weekend, Perez's home race, the Mexican Grand Prix, will take place. For 'Checo', this is an extra special weekend. The event takes place in the heart of Mexico City, the capital of the country. Will Perez have the same specifications as his teammate in Mexico? "We don't know at the moment, that's the target for now." He concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!