Qualifying was 'good performance' for Force India, insists Perez

40

Sergio Perez insists that he's happy with the way that the new VJM11 is shaping up, despite a comparatively lowly grid position for both Force India drivers in qualifying for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

Perez missed out on progressing to the final round of qualifying and will start from 12th place on the grid.

"It’s disappointing not to be in Q3, but actually our performance was pretty good," he told reporters afterwards.

"We worked the tyres well and I drove a very strong lap, but I think the end result reflects where we are at this moment.

"We thought we had a chance to make Q3, but tomorrow is when it really matters.

Hamilton seizes Melbourne pole after Bottas crashes out

"I think some things could play into our hands [in the Grand Prix] because our race pace looks better than the pace we showed today.

"There’s an extra DRS zone creating more [overtaking opportunities and it’s a race where we often see the safety car. There’s a long way to go so let’s see what we can do."

His team mate Esteban Ocon will start two places further back, after coming bottom of Q2.

“It was a tough session," the Frenchman admitted. "Especially Q2 where I was really struggling with the front of the car and locking tyres. It was also difficult to find space in the traffic.

Both Force India drivers also started last year's race outside the top ten. However, both then went on to finish the race in the points. Ocon is hoping the same will happen again on Sunday.

"The race pace will be better tomorrow and I think we can aim for the points," he said. "It’s one of those races where just making the finish gives you a chance to pick up a result.

"Tomorrow is another day and we will keep fighting and see what we can achieve.”

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.