Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

Perez revels in ‘very special’ lap

Sergio Perez says his lap in Q3 which earned him seventh on the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix was “very special”.

Force India has been largely uncompetitive so far this season as it focuses on a B-spec car to be introduced over the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. Despite being concerned earlier in the week that a lack of downforce would hurt the team, Perez delivered an impressive qualifying performance to beat both Toro Rossos and Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus having made it in to Q3, and the Mexican admits the final lap was one of his best qualifying attempts in F1.

“I think Monaco is a place where the driver can make a difference,” Perez said. “To make it in to Q2 was special, but to make it in to Q3 was a very, very special lap, and then to beat so many cars that we were not expecting to beat in Q3 was a mega effort from the whole team. I have to say I am very happy with today’s performance.

“Monaco is 90% qualifying but the other 10% is very important and we have got to make sure we are in the best possible position to score the best possible points tomorrow.”

Clarifying which lap he rated as his best, Perez replied: “I’m saying it was very special to make it in to Q3 but it was even more special to beat some cars in Q3. My Q3 lap, to find a couple of tenths already from my good Q2 laps was very, very special.”

And Perez says it’s a boost to be able to show his true potential with a headline result because he feels he has driving at his best this season.

“Right now I’m driving the best in my career. I’ve reached a very good level, I feel very confident every time I jump in to the car. I think my season has been very good even though the result doesn’t show it, because for us to have a great result means you made it to P11 or P12.

“But every race I’ve been very consistent, extracting the best out of the car every single weekend and I hope I can continue like that though the rest of the season so people can realise I’m still good enough to do this job.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.