Perez: "We underestimated how much the track would evolve"

Sergio Perez believes that his team underestimated the conditions at Monza which saw the Mexican eliminated in Q1 at the Italian Grand Prix. Perez had looked comortable to make it into the next phase of qualifying, so much so his team left him in the pits which ulitmately cost them dearly.

The Force India driver admitted that he was bitterly disappointed to be knocked out so early in qualifying having had the pace to make it through the session easily. as demonstrated by his teammate Esteban Ocon.

"I am very disappointed to go out in Q1," Perez told media afterwards. "It’s very hard to digest.

"We thought we were safe but we underestimated how much the track would evolve in just a few minutes.

"It’s frustrating because we had so much potential to be right behind the top three teams this weekend and instead we are out after just one run.

"We were only two tenths behind Esteban in P7, but with such a close field the margins are very small and we lost out by just one thousandth of a second.

"We have to admit we made a mistake as a team," he added. "The call not to go out was wrong, but I also should have done a better lap during my first run. I lost some time and that left us vulnerable."

Perez will be starting towards the back of the pack for the race but pace from teammate Ocon may encourage the Mexican, with the French driver starting the race from an impressive eighth position.