P4 Perez worried about ‘not that great’ race pace

Sergio Perez admits to being slightly worried about Force India's “not so great” race pace ahead of Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, despite showing tremendous speed over one lap.

The Mexican has looked quite frisky across all sessions at Yas Marina Circuit and equalled his career best result in qualifying by clocking the fourth fastest time in Q3, only one tenth adrift of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

While naturally pleased with his Saturday performance, Perez is not sure it can translate into an equally strong result during the race.

“We have outscored the car by three or four places, so it will be a challenge to keep the position,” the 25-year-old said.

“If very early on you begin fighting cars behind, you are going to degrade your tyres quite badly and that can hurt massively on your performance in the race.

“We have to do our own race and be clever enough to get the best possible result.

“Our long run pace is not that great so we will see what we can do.”

Despite his concerns, Perez says he plans on attacking in order to secure his second podium of the season after finishing third at the Russian Grand Prix.

“I have nothing to lose. I think my championship position [ninth] is pretty much safe from behind, so I am looking ahead. We have very quick cars behind us.

“The track suits our car. We had a poor weekend in Brazil that we learned from and that has made a difference. I think since Friday we have found a good rhythm with the car so I am feeling very comfortable.

“I am still confident we can fight Kimi [Raikkonen]. Hopefully we can get him at Turn 1.”

AS IT HAPPENED: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Qualifying

Between the lines at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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